Stuck in Hyrule
by The Legendary Olympians
Summary: The two worlds of LoZ and PJO are beginning to mix. The villains behind this are none other than Kronos and Ganondorf. Characters forgotten and missed come back to play in this rollercoaster of an adventure! Rated T because we're being cautious. R&R! Flames are welcome!
1. Entering Hyrule

**Nike: Because just about everyone else from The Aurum Writers has their own account, Dargon suggested that we made one too. :) So here we are. :D**

**Dargon: ME AND NIKE AND TWILIGHTTTTTT ME AND NIKE AND TWILIGHTTTTT~**

**REVIEW, PLEASE! D Ish Cream**

**The crossover of Percy and Link. :D This was really fun to write! Hope you guys enjoy too!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Legend of Zelda. That's too bad, isn't it.**

* * *

**.:Percy:.**

It all began when we were picking teams for capture the flag. Everyone was fully dressed in armor and armed. We were planning to completely glomp the red team. Annabeth was on our side, so our chances were better for winning.

"Percy, take your post near the lake." Annabeth instructed me. I nodded, and headed off. I was ready for this. Watch out, Clarisse! We're gonna kick your butt!

On the red team's side, Clarisse looked over towards me and grinned evilly, cracking her knuckles, a sure sign that she wasn't holding back.

Well, I wasn't either. I wasn't going to lose this bet. Everyone got into their positions. All we had to do now was wait for Chiron to blow the whistle. Ten seconds later, the starting whistle screeched, its sound piercing through our quiet playing field. Suddenly, everything came to life, and the game began.

I scrambled up a tree, as nimbly as my armor clad body would allow me to, which is not saying much, positioning myself in the leaves so that I wouldn't be visible to anyone who looked up. That way, I could attack unsuspecting red teamers. This was going to be fun, even though I do wish that I could fight fairly, where the opponent could actually see me. Oh well. It's all part of Annabeth's genius plan.

In a ninja-like style, two Apollo campers somersaulted down, each from two different trees as two of the red team members tried to sneak past. In the blink of an eye, they disarmed the opposing members and tied them up.

"Jail for you two," One of the Apollo campers teased. The campers who had been caught grumbled and shuffled off to jail, which was underneath a rocky overhang that formed a small cave. It wasn't very far from where I was sitting in the tree.

The minutes ticked by. This was getting kind of boring. Sitting still for a whole minute is extremely difficult. Especially when you're ADHD. So, I decided that it was time to do my part.

I listened. No one seemed to be near, so I chanced it and peered out of the leaves surrounding me. There. A tiny white flag was fluttering in the breeze, held aloft just above a bush by a hand. My signal. I uncorked the small bottle I was gripping in my hand and let the pulsating, green Greek fire fall out to the grass. Within seconds, the fire quickly grew, and soon the section of forest beneath me was ablaze. I leaped out of the tree - seconds before it caught fire and collapsed - and hit the ground running. Annabeth's plan had been for me to set up a distraction to lure in the red team, so that we could sneak to the red team's base and snag their flag without too much trouble. More campers were waiting around me. They were to capture the red teamers who came to the fire to investigate. I dashed to the place near the creek where Annabeth had told us all to meet after I had placed the distraction so we could all group up and storm the red team's base together.

There was no one there. I looked around, confused. Was I in the wrong place? No, the blue flags marking the meeting place were here, stuck into the ground. So where was everyone? Suddenly, the bushes lining the edge of the creek to my right rustled, and I whipped around, expecting a full blown attack from the red team. Instead, Annabeth pushed her way through the leaves. She was covered in soot and burn marks, but she looked perfectly fine to me.

"What happened?" I asked Annabeth. "Did I mess something up?"

"No," she said. "Move. Now! The red team's on our tail!"

I didn't need to be told twice. I took off in the other direction, cutting a path through the forest bordering the creek. I could hear Annabeth close behind me as we ran from the other team, which I could tell was in hot pursuit.

"What happened?" I asked again as we crashed through the trees.

"Here, this way!" Annabeth led me quickly into a well-concealed cave hidden in the underbrush. "The others mixed the plan up. They thought the fire had been started by the other team, and so they put the fire out. The red team figured out our plan, and now they're chasing us." She led me through a maze of twisting, winding tunnels that branched off from the main section of the cave. We continued for a while in silence, listening for any signs of the red team approaching, before Annabeth suddenly stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"That's strange…" Annabeth looked confused. "By now we should've come outside to the other side of the creek. This pathway is supposed to lead to there."

Normally, with some other person, I would have just assumed that person had just forgotten the pathway. But with Annabeth, I knew things didn't slip her mind that easily.

"Mazes can't move, right?" I glanced at the cave walls.

"Okay, this was a bad idea. Something's happened here," Annabeth murmured. She motioned for me to follow her. "Let's backtrack to the creek again. Hopefully, the red team doesn't spot us." Suddenly, the section of cave wall in front of us rippled and shimmered, as if it were the surface of water. Annabeth glanced at me.

"Is it just me, or…" I rubbed my eyes and blinked.

"No, it's me too." She stepped closer to the wall, but I flung an arm out in front of her.

"Wait! What if it's something we're not supposed to be seeing?"

"Well, all the more reason to go," Annabeth said, ducking under my arm.

"C'mon," I pleaded. "This may be bad. Let's just pretend we didn't see this."

Annabeth sighed. "Okay, fine." We turned to go.

But… something about the rippling surface drew me towards it. I shook my head, trying to clear away the feeling.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked, noticing my hesitation to leave.

"It's nothing. I just sorta feel… a tug towards it, if you know what I mean." Was I being crazy?

Annabeth nodded in understanding. "Me too. Uh, we should get going, though." She tugged on the sleeve of my t-shirt.

Demigods… A voice hissed into our minds.

"Uh, did you hear that?"

Annabeth gripped her dagger and stiffened in response. "Percy, keep your guard up."

I unsheathed Riptide and got ready for a possible attack.

But no matter how ready we were, nothing would've been able to stop what happened next.

Without warning, a large, black ethereal hand about the size of the Big House shot through the wall's surface and wrapped its fingers around us, squeezing us in a unstoppable, tight grip. Our weapons didn't even make a scratch on it as we tried to hack at it. They just made the hand grip us tighter, pressing in on our lungs.

The air started to leave my lungs, leaving me choking for air. It was getting hard to breathe.

I tried an air-saving tactic. _Oh, sweet air, why leave us - betray us - now, in our time of dire need?_

Nope. Didn't work. My oxygen levels were decreasing at an alarmingly fast rate. I looked over to Annabeth.

Annabeth's face was flushed, and she was taking in huge gulps of air, as if trying to stock up. Hmm, maybe I should do that too. I began copying her, trying to keep as much air in my lungs as possible - before the hand suddenly squeezed hard, closing up our airways.

Without warning, the black hand holding us retracted back into the wall, plunging us straight through and rendering my vision to a hazy darkness. Before losing my sight and consciousness completely, I saw a large, yellow wheat field flying towards us quickly.

**+Link+**

"C'mon, Epona," I murmured to her as she whinnied in protest, shying away from me. "What's wrong?" I tried holding a sugar cube out to her, and this time she inched towards me tentatively and nibbled it out of my hand. Then she instantly walked backwards away from me, neighing softly. She sounded… worried. Suddenly, Epona reared up on her hind legs, neighing loudly. I whipped around and saw a large, black hand clenched into a fist with nothing attached to it descend down a few meters away from me. The hand relaxed, opening its fist into an open palm, allowing two figures to tumble down onto a patch of grass. Then the hand disappeared. Just like that. I blinked. What…was that? A demon?

The two figures that the hand had deposited were lying, unmoving where they were. I whistled softly to Epona, who trotted to me. I swung a leg over her back, and we took off in the direction of the figures.

**.:Percy:.**

"...Hello?"

Someone was shaking me. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes. Sunlight was streaming down directly into my eyes. I instantly closed my eyes and waited for the sunspots to go away. After they faded, I sat up. "Who…?" I started to say, then immediately stopped as I saw the boy in front of me.

He was about the same age as I was, though he looked a bit younger. His hair was golden, though it had some light brown streaks in it, and his eyes were a startlingly light blue color. He wore a weird, triangular-shaped hat and a tunic; both were light-green. The boy also had a sheath and shield slung over his shoulder that rested on his back, embroidered with strange engravings. A sword, its hilt faintly glowing blue, was set in the sheath.

And his ears…

Like an elf's, they were long and pointed at the tips. A small earring was clipped onto one of his ears. I wondered if that was supposed to be fashion, or if he was just a troublemaker, like me.

"Hi," the boy said. "Who are you?"

I stared at him. "Who are you?" I was not going to tell this stranger my name, right off the bat.

The boy crossed his arms and jabbed a thumb towards himself. "The name's Link. Will you tell me yours, now?"

I thought about it some. What would Annabeth do...Annabeth! Was she okay?

"Yeah," the boy - no, Link - said, as if reading my mind. "She's still passed out, though."

"Did I ask that out loud?"

"Duh."

"Oh…" Oops. "Um, by the way, your horse wants more sugar cubes."

"Yeah, I know," Link said tiredly. Then he started. "Wait… How'd you…"

I had slipped up. Double oops. Annabeth, save me now. "Um...well...you see, I can sorta talk to horses. It's a special ability."

Link stared at me as if he completely believed my rusty cover-up half-truth story. "Ah, I see, so you're like me. Born with it. Cool."

I didn't know what he was talking about. My brain couldn't keep up with his words. 'Just like him'? What kind of person was he? "Sure, I guess."

Suddenly, Link's eyes narrowed, and with a flash he drew his sword, sliding it under my chin. "Who are you, and how'd you get here?" he growled.

"Whoa, hold on for a second." I swallowed. Think… How would you get yourself out of a situation with a guy younger than you holding a sword to your neck? "I don't know. We were playing Capture the Flag, when we tried to escape and there was this big hand -"

He shook his head. "Slower, please?"

"We. Were. Playing. Capture. The. Flag -"

He sniggered. "Someone your age was playing Capture the Flag?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes. It helps with motivating our strategizing skills. Is that a problem?"

"Naw. Keep going."

"Then. This. Big. Hand-"

"Uh, not that slow."

"Alrighty, then. Is that all you wanted to say?" He nodded. "No more interruptions from this point on?"

"Sure."

I didn't know what was up with this guy, but I told him everything. Excluding my name.

"And you came from…?" He looked to me for an answer.

"New York. What is this place?"

"What the heck is New York? This is Hyrule."

"What the heck is Hyrule? Seriously," I added.

Link looked as if he were deep in thought. Finally, he said, "Would you think I was crazy if I said we possibly could have been living in different worlds before you came here?"

I shook my head. "No." I had been through stranger things during my time at camp than the prospect of there being different worlds.

"So, is there a reason for Camp Half-Blood? I have a feeling it's not all fun and games." He looked at me straight in the eyes.

Jeez, those eyes are unsettling. Oh, boy, I thought to myself. Here comes the hard part; telling this boy - Link - about the Greek gods.

Link listened to me as I explained it to him, his eyes growing wider and wider with each word. Finally, when I was done, he shook his head.

"Do you not believe me?" I asked.

He shook his head again. "No, it's not that. It's just…" He tugged the sleeve of his tunic up, revealing his left hand. I stared at it as I realized there was a golden triangle etched onto his hand. Somehow, I knew that wasn't a fancy tattoo. "Here, in Hyrule, our gods are the three goddesses of the Triforce. The triangles represent Courage, Wisdom, and Power. They shaped the land using these, and as they left they also left the Triforce in the people's hands. Now, Ganondorf, the Prince of Evil, has the triforce of power, seeking to overrule the world with it. I have the triforce of courage."

"Who has the last one?" I asked.

"Uh, Zelda. Princess Zelda, the princess of Hyrule." Link looked away as he said that, a faint but noticeable reddish tinge forming in his cheeks.

Ha, gotcha, I thought, holding back a snigger. Looks like I'm not the only one with a girlfriend.

Link sighed, turning back to me. "Okay. I believe you," he said.

My jaw dropped open in amazement. "Wait. Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No, nothing. It's just that I've never met anyone really believe in the Greek gods that quickly," I said. Heck, not even I had believed in Greek mythology that quickly before, when I had first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.

"Sorry if I acted rude before," Link apologized. "A lot of demons have been storming Hyrule lately, mostly demons that pose as humans to trick us. I wasn't sure if you were one or not, considering the way you came here." He glanced back up at the sky, as if expecting the hand to come back again.

A small groan sounded behind me, and I whipped around to see Annabeth sitting up. "Percy? What happened? Who's that?" she added, glaring at Link. "You need help taking him out?"

"No, he's friendly."

"Who are you? What are you?" Annabeth demanded, turning to Link. "Are you an elf?"

I thought Link would be furious at that, but instead he burst out laughing. I cracked a grin, unable to stop myself, and soon I was laughing too, doubled over, while Annabeth glared daggers at both of us, her stormy grey eyes as intimidating as ever.

* * *

"So, you're Link, huh?" Annabeth sat on her knees in the grass, watching Link carefully as if trying to calculate his next move.

"Yup! Nice to meet you, Annabeth!"

"No offense, but what kind of a name is Link?"

"None taken. I get that a lot." He shrugged, and didn't say anything else. An awkward silence wrapped its arms around us, enveloping us in it.

"So, are you gonna tell us, or…" I prompted, trying to get him to continue his explanation.

"Oh, right. Uh, my parents gave it to me," Link said. "They wanted me to be the 'link' between two destinies later. They weren't sure why, but now I think the goddesses told them to name me Link."

"Where are your parents?"

Link closed his eyes briefly. "They died a long time ago. Demons," he added as he saw my confused look.

"Oh. I'm… sorry." I immediately felt bad for him. Sure, I did have a father that wasn't around a lot, but at least I knew he was out there somewhere.

"S'okay." He shrugged it off. "So, you never told me your name," he said to me, changing the subject.

"Oh, right. Percy." I said, sticking my hand out.

He shook it. "Nice meeting you, Percy."

I smiled. The corners of his lips twitched, hinting that he was going to smile. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Watch out!" He pushed Annabeth and me aside, slashing out with his sword at something behind us. I turned around, but saw nothing.

"What was that about?"

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, I've been hallucinating, seeing demons everywhere lately. I don't know why."

Suddenly, a figure materialized out of thin air in the same spot Link had slashed out at. The imp laughed. "Yeah, you're totally hallucinating, Link." She rolled her eyes. Her body was small but slender, covered in black and light blue swirls, and her eyes were yellow - save for the red irises, black pupils, and white highlights in the middle. She had flaming red and orange hair that looked almost liquid. It was tucked into a ponytail by an ancient-looking stone helmet that sat on top of her head, covering her left eye. Her ears were also pointed, like Link's.

"Midna!" Link yelped. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"  
Midna floated in the air above our heads, grinning. She stuck her tongue out playfully at Link.

"This is Midna," Link introduced us to her, glaring at Midna. "Midna, this is Percy and Annabeth."

Midna narrowed her eyes when she saw us, as if trying to decide if we were trustable or not. Might be a little helpful to boost her trust by talking to her strategically. Annabeth probably thought so, too.

"Hi, Midna! As Link already told you, I'm Annabeth, and this is my boyfriend, Percy. We're from Manhattan, New York; it's in a different dimension." Wow, her voice was way more bubbly and cheerful than her usual stony and intimidating approach.

Immediately, Midna stiffened; the exact opposite of the reaction we were hoping for. "Different dimension, huh? Okay, then…" Her entire demeanor said, I don't trust you two.

I nodded. "At least, that's what Link and I figured."

She turned towards Link, the unspoken question floating in her eyes. Link nodded once. Midna smiled, and softened. "Alright, then. For now, I'll pretend to trust what you two are saying. Expect to give me answers later. Let's start over now. Hi, I'm Midna, nice to meet you guys," she said cheerfully, almost bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, despite what she'd just said about still not trusting us.

"Yo. Nice to meet you, too." I replied.

Link asked the question that had been on all of our minds. "Okay, now that we've all met each other, what next?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I guess we'll just get going now. We've got to find a way to get back home, thanks to the ride that giant hand so kindly offered us."

"We can help," Link offered. Midna rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement anyways.

"Thanks for the offer, but it's okay. We wouldn't want to cause you any trouble." Annabeth turned down their offer kindly.

"No! I mean, we've been waiting for some excitement. It's been pretty long since anything's happened," Link nudged Midna.

"Yeah, and think about it: How will you get around without help?" Midna asked slyly. "I bet you don't know the language here and you don't have any don't even know how to get back. We could help you."

I glanced at Annabeth. "She's got a good point there."

Annabeth sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'm not going to stop you guys if you insist on it."

Link nodded firmly.

"So, it's official, then?" I asked.

Midna sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Why don't you two come to my house? It's not much, but it has pretty much all we'll need on the journey we'll be embarking on." Without waiting for an answer, Link turned around and headed towards a wooden cabin a little ways away.

"C'mon, get going." Midna said, heading after him, gesturing for us to follow. Annabeth went after her, leaving me no choice but to take be the caboose. Before leaving, I quickly erased all evidence of us being in that field. We could never be too cautious.

**=Annabeth=**

I don't trust them. I know I should, but I don't. Something about Link and Midna set me off. Especially Midna. They both seemed to be hiding something. I could continuously feel mysterious vibes coming off of them. How and when did Link befriend such a bratty imp? I thought back on our previous conversation. Midna had mentioned Rupees. What in Hades were those? I needed answers.

"Midna, you mentioned Rupees earlier. Don't you mean the things used for money in, like, India and Pakistan and stuff?"

Midna stared at me like I was crazy. "India? Pakistan?"

I blushed. Oops. Riiight. We were in another world, apparently. "Uh, never mind."

"It's the currency here. Rupees are money for us."

"So, they're not paper, right?" I asked.

Midna glanced at me, confused. "Yeah. Why would they be? What, are you crazy? They're little gems, which come in different colors, but have the same shape. Different colors mean different amounts of value." She conjured up a hologram of a glowing, green jewel. "See? This counts as one." The jewel turned red. "And this equals twenty." She turned away, causing the hologram to disappear, as if I was too unworthy of her attention for her to keep talking to me. I glared at her back as we headed towards Link's house. I could easily match up Midna in with the Aphrodite campers. They were too much alike; both sassy and bratty. Well, most of them, anyways.

We reached Link's house just as the door swung open. A little girl stormed out. She was pretty ordinary-looking… except for the fact that she was also half-bird. There was a beak in the place of the girl's nose and mouth on her face, and she had feathers over her arms that formed two wings. In her arms, she carried a golden, small harp.

I glanced at Percy, who looked just as baffled as I was. Does Link live with all these… things? I didn't know what to call them, now that I'd already seen an imp and a bird-girl.

I honestly don't know, Percy's eyes seemed to be saying as he shook his head in bewilderment.

"Link, are you going out again?!" the little girl asked incredulously, the same way I scold Percy for doing stupid things.

Link knelt in front of her. , looking straight into her brown eyes. "Yeah. Sorry, Medli, but I'll try to be back soon," Link promised.

"D'you want me to get the adventure stuff for you?" Medli asked.

"You sure?" Link called uncertainly, but Medli was already hopping back into the house.

"I'm sure," she yelled back. "I'll get the things if Makar hasn't misplaced them!"

Link turned to us sheepishly. "Sorry. There's a lot that goes on around here." A sudden bang and a crash sounded in the house, and Link sighed. "Just as I say that. Hold on. Sorry." He ran into the house. A moment later, loud thumps sounded and a random ping from what seemed to be Medli's harp.

Uh… All of a sudden, the house became silent. An awkward silence stretched over the three of us. Speaking of which…

Midna suddenly turned on us, baring her sharp fangs. "Who are you people?" she hissed. "When someone who's not supposed to be here shows up, I wanna know why."

"Didn't Link already tell you?" I asked, none too kindly. Midna's eyes narrowed. Percy glanced at me worriedly. I could tell what he was thinking: To pick a fight with this kind of creature was not a smart idea. Don't I know it.

Still, I was sick of her acting queen of the world. Midna's ponytail suddenly stretched into a clawed hand menacingly, resting beside her. I was unfazed, though.

"So? What's it got to do with it if Link didn't tell me?" Midna sneered. "Do I have no rights to know what happened, when two random people show up in my world?"

I was about to retaliate when the door crashed open. Link was at the door, a large canvas bag slung over his shoulder. He stopped, his eyes wide, when he saw Midna and me glaring at each other. Percy moved in between us. "Whoa, there, hold on," he said, his hands up. "This isn't the best of times to pick a fight," he quietly murmured to both of us. I knew he was right. Not breaking eye contact with Midna until the last second, I relaxed and turned my back on her.

"So…" Percy continued to Link, but kept a steady watch on us. "What should we do first? I mean, we should try to figure out what the hand's intentions were of bringing us here and how to get back, right?"

"Yeah…" Link shook his head slightly. "But how we're going to find out, I have no idea."

"Alright, let's start with the basics. The hand was pitch black, so it must've been designed to hide in the shadows. We weren't able to see it until it attacked, so it's probably able to use the Mist to control what we see. Powerful Mist, too. Strong enough to control what Big Three child sees." I said, trying to think it out logically.

Midna looked at me in question. "What's a big three child and this...mist you're talking about?"

"Mist is a supernatural force that twists a mortal's way of seeing mythology. It keeps them from seeing the true forms of everything."

"So, what you're saying is… you're not a mortal? So, you're immortal?" Link scrunched his eyebrows thoughtfully.

"Well, technically, yes, we're mortals, because we can die. But we're also half-god-slash-goddess."

"Okaaaaay… I don't get it." Link scratched his head, trying to make sense of all this.

I looked towards Percy… only to find him dozing off in the grass.

"Percy, a little help, here?" I nudged him with my foot.

"Huh, what?"

"You drool in your sleep."

"Woah, major déjà vu."

I rolled my eyes. "Help me explain what a demigod is, Seaweed Brain."

He got up stiffly and stretched, taking his time to roll back his shoulders, as if trying to get the blood flowing again. "Alright, so, basically, a demigod is the result of when a mortal and a god have a kid." He summed up simply.

"Great…" Midna said sarcastically.

"Oh, so like half-human, half-god?" Link asked.

"Well, I guess you could say it that way," Percy said.

"Who're your godly parents, then?" Link asked us.

"Poseidon."

"Athena."

"Which gives her really smart thinking stuff," Percy added.

"Shut up!"

"What? It's true!"  
"Well, then, what if I said that as a son of Poseidon, you can control water and talk to horses?"

"Then, well, thank you."

I sighed.

Link gaped open-mouthed at Percy. "That explains how you talked to Epona earlier!"

"Yeah, but…" Percy shrugged indifferently. "I know another son of Poseidon who can turn into any animal he wants. Hey, can you do anything?" he asked Link.

Link shook his head. "Nope."

"Well, you are an extremely talented swordsman, you can handle lots of different types of weapons, you've defeated Ganon a thousand times, and you're the Hero of Time, Hero of Winds, and etc., etc., etc.," Midna said teasingly.

"Hey, be quiet!"

"Just stating the facts. But I do believe we're getting off topic, here," Midna turned to the rest of us. "We need help from someone who knows about your... stuff, like on the Mist and shadow energy."

Link looked up at her in the air. "Aren't you an expert on shadow, dark energy?"

"Yeah, but I don't really know about Greek stuff. And anyways, I've never seen a beast like that before."

"What do we do, then?!" I nearly screamed in frustration. How were we going to get back now?!  
"Ah, got it!" Midna snapped her fingers, but suddenly became tense. "We can go ask... Zelda," she suggested hesitantly to Link. "I mean, she's the princess and everything. And she might know something about…you know." Midna waved a hand at us uneasily. I glared at her. What was wrong with her? She seemed shaky when mentioning Zelda.

"Well… I guess that makes sense." Link shrugged. "Hyrule castle is that way," he added, pointing in the opposite direction of the house.

I sighed. "Okay, then. It's the only lead we have, so I guess we should go."

With that, Percy turned and marched off into the trees.

"Uh, Percy?" Link called.

"Yeah?" I heard him yell back.

"Uh… You're going the wrong way."

"Oh." He reappeared out of the trees, his face flushed. "Sorry."

I tried to stifle a snigger, but ended up failing and laughed. Percy gave me a playful but embarrassed shove, and we followed Link through the woods to the castle. Good. We were finally going to get some answers.

* * *

**Nike: Whew, this was long. Don't expect 4890-word chappies all the time.**

**Dargon: YAAAAY! AUTHOR'S INS AUTHOR'S INS!**

**Nike: Wut?**

**Dargon (ignoring Nike, LOL): REVIEW, PLEASE! WE 4890'D IT JUST FOR YOU GUYZEZ~! I really like how we got to be able to do this FF! Favorite and review!**

**Status**

**Dargon: Currently eating Yogurt-covered Raisins.**

**Nike: Currently licking a lollipop. (Pure sugar~).**

**Dargon: Currently glaring at Nike for the lollipop.**


	2. Hidden Memories

**Disclaimer: Sadly, neither Percy Jackson or the Olympians or The Legend of Zelda are ours to own. Double sigh.**

* * *

**\Midna/**

Let me just say this...I don't like them - Annabeth and Percy. First of all, they appear in the middle of nowhere. We've only met for one day and BAM! Now we're working together. Sometimes I have no idea what's going on in Link's naive head. He decides to help them the moment he sees them, just like that, without thinking about what could happen. I know I shouldn't judge people by their looks, but I can't help it! Percy seems clueless while Annabeth, she's so perfect, full of ideas, wise, and… well… personally she looks like Zelda, being blond and all. I just can't seem to get along with Zelda. She's fine with me and not mean to her or anything but I feel… jealous. I never can surpass her in anything and Link always chooses Zelda over me, but I don't blame him. And now, when Zelda number two - also known as Annabeth - is in Hyrule, that's not helping my mood. Well, so far they're kind enough so I'll give them a chance.

***Piper***

Where are Percy and Annabeth? They should've come back to the Big House hours ago. The blue team had won, so why hadn't they come to the celebrations?

"Hey, did Percy and Annabeth ever come out of the forest?" I asked Jason.

"I'm not sure. I heard the red team talking about them. They said something about Percy and Annabeth entering a bush-like maze. No one thinks that they came back out. Chiron's going to declare them officially missing if they don't show up in five hours. Personally, I'm not too worried. They can handle themselves. They're Roman material." Jason shrugged, completely indifferent to the fact that they were missing.

I sighed. "You're right, they can handle themselves. I'm still worried, though. Where could they be?"

Jason shrugged again. "Oh, around. Who cares, though? They'll come back, soon enough. C'mon, let's go to the campfire. Apollo's demigods are beginning to sing."

I nodded, and followed Jason to the campfire. The campfire was a rusty gray color, and about four feet high. It reflected the campers' worry for Percy and Annabeth, and their hope that the couple would soon come back. I sang along, hoping to forget about the fact that Jason didn't seem to really care that they were missing. It was hard; it bothered me.

Jason sat beside me, eyes hard as steel, cold as ever. Is he still a hardcore Roman on the inside? Would he really care if Percy and Annabeth never came back?

Don't think like that, I chided myself. Jason's loyal. The only reason that he's acting like he doesn't care much about the two's disappearance is because he's holding his feelings inside. He's not going to let anyone see his worry; he's safeguarding them inside an emotional barrier of steel.

Yes, I decide. If need be, Jason will search for them, and bring them back for sure. And I'll be helping and accompanying him the whole way. I'll put my trust in him, and support him the whole way through.

**.:Percy:.**

This. Is. Boring. We've been walking for what seems like hours; long enough for me to wonder if Link is leading us in the right direction or not. I was beginning doubt his loyalty.

Quick question. "Um, Link?"

"Hm?"

"Are you sure that we're going in the right direction?"

"Yeah."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Mmhm."

"Are you positive?"

"Yes. Now could you please stop asking questions? I'm trying to clear a path here," Frustrated, he chopped another branch off of a tree.

Annabeth stopped abruptly, causing me to run into her.

"Sorry." I said quickly. She didn't reply; she was probably thinking about something.

"Link, you said that Zelda had the triforce of wisdom, right?" she asked, continuing to walk.

"Yup."

"Even so, how would she know about our other dimension?"

"I don't know. Trust me, though. She knows everything."

"Alright, but in order for her to know, there would've needed to be records of our dimension here."

"Yeah, so?"

"Which means that this dimension already has knowledge about our dimension. So, there's a possibility that someone from this world went into our world, or vice-versa in the past. The fact that there's records of our dimension here, means that there must've been past experiences like this one. If that's so, then the subjects in the past must've been able to get back of their original home, so we have hope, right?"

"Uh, how'd you analyze that so quickly?" Link asked, impressed.

"That's my Wise Girl." I said, patting her on the back in congrats. "Daughter of Athena, remember?"

I saw Link nod up ahead.

Under my breath, I muttered, "Even if I did get lost after your first sentence…"

Annabeth heard me. "Typical." she replied, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know. I'm completely clueless about anything that might have happened here before. I only live in one era, one generation." Link said, continuing the conversation.  
"Well, then, so has Zelda, then," Annabeth stated. "So how would she know about anything of the past either?"

"She does a lot of heavy reading about lots of stuff. There's like a whole library on old tomes. And who knows? Maybe she heard something from her older generations."

Hm, sounds like Zelda and Annabeth have a lot in common, I thought. As soon as I thought that, Annabeth's eyes brightened up, her usual stormy gray eyes perking up into a bright sea of mist.

"Really? A whole library?!" she exclaimed.

Link turned, grinning at her. "Yeah. Millions and millions of old tomes."

Annabeth looked giddy with excitement. I shook my head at her, barely hiding a smile on my lips. We suddenly came out of the forest, arriving at an elaborate stone castle.  
"Whoa." I craned my neck up to look up at the massive structure. The castle looked exactly what I thought a castle would have looked like in fairy tales my mom used to read me when I was younger, with battlements, sloping towers, ornate stained glass windows, and banners strung around the front of the castle. We passed through a bright green garden leading to a gigantic set of double brass doors that marked the entrance to the castle. Two armed soldiers were stationed on each side of the doors.

Link immediately walked up to them. "Hi!"

"Link!" The soldier opened the door. "Come on in. Her royal majesty's in the throne chamber."

I hurried to catch up to Link as we made our way through the castle to where I supposed the throne chamber was. "Seriously?! They let you in? Just like that?" _How bad is their security here?_

"Yeah." Link blushed slightly. "I come here a lot. Oh, here we go." He stopped in front of a single huge door that was covered in green velvet and had diamond studs around the frame. There was no doorknob, though. Instead, Link reached up and tapped on the door. The door opened soundlessly, and we were in.

I nearly cracked my neck trying to take everything at once. I looked around in astonishment at the throne chamber. It was a chamber made of white marble with supporting snow-white pillars embroidered with gold, placed around the perimeter of the room. A long, winding red carpet ran from the door all the way to the throne. A huge, stained glass window loomed at the other side of the room on the wall behind the throne. But of course, not as astonishing as Annabeth's architect designs. A figure was standing in front of the throne, her back turned to us. She turned, and I nearly gasped.

She was the same age as Link, no doubt. Even though she was still young, a certain aura that told of her wisdom was around her. Her hair was pure gold, like Link's, which fell in a golden shower down her back, with long, wavy side locks falling down her front. Her blue eyes still had a childish look to it, though it was mixed with a wise glint.

"Link…? Midna?" Zelda asked, staring at us.

"Hullo," Midna greeted her, grinning.

"Hi, Zelda," Link began. "I know this was sort of unexpected, but -"

"You don't have to say that," Zelda said.

"Okay. We need your help."

Zelda listened thoughtfully as Link explained everything to her. It took a bit, and I was already shifting uncomfortably, due to my ADHD, when Link finally finished. She looked at us. "So you're Percy and Annabeth?" she asked.

"Yeah," We both said at the same time. Annabeth blushed and looked away.

She looked as if she were deep in thought, concentrating hard. Finally, she said, "I do believe I've heard of your world before."  
"Really?!" Annabeth asked.

"Yes. It's… not another world, though."

We stared at her for a long while. Finally, Midna broke the silence. "Well, then, if it's not, then how are we unable to get to…" She looked at Annabeth. "Your 'New York' and 'India' and all that?"

"Well, the concept of different worlds are a totally different thing. But here, we exist in the same world, it's just that travel between Hyrule and other places like yours wasn't ever adopted or established. We've been living unaware of the other's existence like this since the beginning."

"Why wasn't travel adopted?" I asked.

"We had no idea. It was little more than a myth that was passed down to me that there were even other places that existed. But here, seeing you two in front of me, I think I can believe it. The monster that brought you here, that hand, was a Telekno Master Hand."

"A… what Master Hand?" Link looked appalled.

"Telekno Master Hand," Zelda repeated. "It's a very ancient Master Hand. But I have no idea why it would've wanted to bring Percy and Annabeth here. Was it ordered to by a greater enemy? Or does it want something to happen here in Hyrule?" Zelda shook her head.

"So… How're we going to get back?" I asked worriedly. If I never saw Camp Half-Blood again…

"You're going to have to visit the elder in Kakariko Village," Zelda answered. "He may know something more about the Telekno Master Hand's intentions. He's the one who taught me the legend of other places anyways," she added.

"But… Kakariko's under lockdown. Isn't there a monster invasion going on around there?" Midna asked.

"What else can you do? Most of the villagers fled, but like the loyal man he is, the elder chose to stay behind in the village. Now he's completely surrounded by demons. You most likely will have to get through them to be able to get to the elder."  
Suddenly, we were interrupted when a frantic knock sounded on the other side of the room. Zelda held a finger to her lips, then called out, "Who is it?"

"The stationary guard out front! There's a monster attack close to the entrance!"  
Zelda paused, clenching her hands into fists. "Status?"  
"We have a group of guards fighting back, but I'm afraid there's too many of them. From the direction they came from, we're assuming it may be a pack of demons from the monster invasion in Kakariko."

"Thank you," Zelda called. Quickly turning, she turned and rushed to the window behind her. She fiddled with a latch at the bottom for a second, then shoved the gigantic window open, letting a blast of fresh air into the room. "Go!" she yelled. "You have to go now, just in case the guards can't handle it."

"Wait, what?" Link asked, flustered by the sudden change in events. "Zelda, if the guards can't handle it, then -"

"I know. You have to get going! If the guards can at least hold them off for a while, and if the stationary guard's right about the monsters coming from Kakariko, then there's not going to be that many monsters left at the village to cause you too much trouble."  
"But -" Link started to say, but Zelda grabbed his arm, forcing him to look her straight in the eyes. A moment passed, and then Link grinned and nodded. "I know. See ya." Turning to us, he yelled, "Come on!" And jumped out of the window onto the ledge outside with Midna right at his heels.

I looked at Annabeth. "Is he crazy?!"

"Nope," she said, and leaped onto the ledge. I sighed and followed her. We balanced precariously on the narrow ledge as a sharp wind pushed against us.

"What're we doing?" I yelled over the roar of the wind.

"A nifty way outta here is jumping into that haystack over there," Link called back, pointing far down to a sizeable lump of hay sitting a few ways away from the castle wall thousands of feet below. Seeing the look on my face, he quickly added, "Don't worry. I've done this plenty of times. No bones broken."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Images of falling and missing the haystack filled my mind.

"It's fine. Who wants to go first?" Link said, grinning.

"I can," Midna volunteered.

"Well, technically it doesn't matter for you, 'cause you can walk in the air," Link reminded her.

"Oh." Midna blushed. "Right. Well. I'll go down there anyways." She took a flying leap off of the ledge, shooting downwards at the haystack and becoming smaller and smaller as she descended. Right before she came into contact with it, she stopped her fall and turned to look at us, now a small speck on the ground, hovering in the air above the haystack and beckoning with a clawed hand from her ponytail. "Who's next?" she shouted up at us.

"I'll go next," Link told us. "Then you guys can jump after. It's much safer going down one or two at a time, cuz then there's less chance of crashing into one another." With that, he stepped right off, falling straight down. As soon as we saw Link disappear into the mess of hay and reappear to the side of it far down below, I cast a worried glance at Annabeth.

"It's fine," she reassured me. "Think of it as… uh, going down the rock wall at camp. Or an even better analogy than that. I thought you weren't afraid of heights," she said.

"I'm not. I'm afraid of becoming a grease spot on the ground."

"Okay. On the count of three."

"One…"

"TWO!" Annabeth yelled, yanking me off of the ledge with her. We free-fell towards the ground, Annabeth angling us at the right direction to hit the haystack spot-on. Suddenly, a huge shadow fell upon us as we fell. I snapped my head up, and saw a gigantic bird.

**=Annabeth=**

The bird seemed to be half-demon, half-bird, with two sets of wings instead of one and sharp, taloned claws. The monster's tail feathers were stringy and brightly colored, fluttering in the air in the bird's wake. It seemed to be wearing a helmet, which covered its eyes completely, and had a beak that looked way too long and pointy, even for a woodpecker. It suddenly went into a nosedive straight at us, but miscalculated its aim and instead accidentally swooped feet above our heads as we shot down past it. I looked down in time to see that the haystack was coming up fast just as we crashed into the hay. Quickly, without waiting for my head get a sense of its bearings, I scrambled to my feet and pushed through the hay until I made it outside. Percy appeared out of the hay seconds later at my side, with hay tangled into his hair and his clothes rumpled, but otherwise he seemed fine.

I caught a glimpse of Link and Midna standing feet away and sprinted to them. "Where's the bird?" I yelled as I reached them. Midna pointed upwards, and I looked straight up to see the bird circling down, spreading its wings out to land in front of us, stirring up the grass around it.

Link shoved a hand into the canvas bag he had been carrying, coming back up with a bow and a sheath of arrows. "Do you have any good weapons?" he asked me.

"Only my dagger. I don't think it'd be much help, though."

"Take this, then!" Link tossed the bow and arrows at me. I caught it, swinging the sheath over my shoulder and raising the bow to position it.

The bird landed with a thump, letting out a shrill, SQUAWK!

"Good birdie, birdie," Percy said next to me.

"How can it see under that helmet?" I whispered.

Percy shrugged. "I dunno. Magic?"

"Fat chance." I tried to aim the arrow at the creature, but it suddenly rose into the air again in a whirl of feathers, moving around too quickly for me to hit it, never staying in the same place long enough for me to fire.

So instead, I tried to calculate its next move. It seemed to be going in downward spirals, counter-clockwise, as if trying to nonchalantly close in on us; its prey.

There, I thought. I shot, letting the arrow fly right in front of the creature. It was going so fast that it didn't notice the arrow until it pierced straight through its chest. It let out an agonized wail, and plummeted towards the ground.

It slammed into the ground, causing smoke and dust to billow up. When it cleared, the creature lay on the ground, unmoving. Midna walked over to it, placing a hand on its chest. She reached over to the arrow embedded in its chest and yanked it out, tossing it back to me.

"That was quite easy." She looked thoughtful. "Maybe…" She leaped on top of the bird's back, laying both of her hands on the creature's helmet. The helmet flashed from a dull gray color to a bright blue. Suddenly, the bird jerked up, swiveling its head around. When it noticed the added extra weight on its back, it turned its head to look at Midna, then flapped its wings, trying to shake her off. "Stop struggling!" Midna commanded, and the bird immediately calmed down. Midna grinned. "Hop on," she said to us.

I stared at her. "We're riding that thing?!"

"Yeah, why not? It'll be a lot faster than walking."

"That thing just tried to kill us!"

"It's fine. Or are you scared?" Midna taunted.

I gritted my teeth. When this is over, I'm going to wring her neck.

"It's okay," Link reassured us. "Midna's pretty talented at monster wrangling."

I ignored him and swung a leg over the bird's back, hoisting myself on top of the bird. I reached over and helped Percy up. Seconds later, Link leaped on effortlessly, as if he'd done this plenty of times before. Ahead of me, Midna stroked the bird's head, causing it to caw contentedly. "To Kakariko!" she yelled. The bird rose into the air, flapping its great four wings, and took off for the village, where we would hopefully find real answers from the elder.

**~Chiron~**

I have my suspicions. Percy and Annabeth must've long-distance traveled. It's happened before, too. They probably think that they're in a different dimension right now.

I remember the last time this happened. Disaster had struck the last time. Chaos had broken out. The experience had had to be taken out of everyone's memories at Camp Half-Blood. No one remembers what happened except for me. Not even the Gods know - except for Hecate, the one who had taken their memories.

I remember, clear as day, the time two foreigners stumbled into camp, disoriented and distraught. They were the ones who started it all.

Link and Zelda… how are you two doing now? Sorry for having to take your memories too. Though I have left the memory with a friend of mine, the elder, to keep this experience alive, in hopes that it wouldn't happen again. Looks like it did, anyway.

I hope Percy and Annabeth will find their way to him. He is the only one who knows about us in Hyrule. But I do have a sneaking suspicion that Zelda hadn't quite forgotten the memory we had supposedly removed...

The connections between Hyrule and Camp Half-Blood have been cut off. It would be impossible for me to travel to Hyrule to save Percy and Annabeth, but hopefully they can find a way over at Hyrule to come back. May the Gods be with you, my two young heroes.

**+Link+**

The wind whistled through my ears, threatening to push my green hat off. Of course, after a few seconds, it was blown off.

_Good thing I wore my extra hats underneath,_ I thought as a second green hat tumbled down, replacing my old hat. I down looked at the grassy terrain below us, trying to find our destination.

"Do you know where the village is?" I shouted to Midna over the rushing wind.

"Yeah, I think I went there once to run an errand or something."

I nodded, "Okay, that makes sense."

Suddenly, a memory flooded through me. It was very fuzzy. Something told me that I had done this before, but I don't remember doing so. A mental image of a… something. My head pounded and I had to close my eyes for a while before it stopped. Suddenly, as if to taunt me, another memory surfaced.

_I was about seven at the time. I think…_

_It happened. I had stayed up late because for some reason I couldn't sleep. I lay awake in my bed, listening to the insects chirping outside. I toyed with my hat, twisting it into knots over and over again. I had a vague feeling I should be worried, but I felt too contented._

_With my innocence, the world was perfect. Until…_

_I heard shouting downstairs. I froze, then quickly undid my knots and slipped my hat back onto my head. I pushed the door open and crept out of my room, quietly padding downstairs. At about halfway down, I paused and listened, where I could clearly hear them arguing._

_"He's a sweet boy. He's never done anything wrong. Why would you ruin his life?!"_

_"I'm not! I told you I would be careful. If I am, I can come back every single time."_

_"But.." My mother choked up. "If you die, out on the battlefield, with no one to help you…"_

_"It was my choice to join the soldier's rank. If I die, let it be on my own terms."_  
_ "If you die, you'll ruin all of our lives!" I jumped, frightened by the sudden volume change and intensity my mother's voice. "You're a selfish man, leaving us like this, without even telling me before. If you die, he'll have no father. He'll remember you as the father who left him."_

_They continued arguing, but I had already heard enough. I made my way back up the stairs as silently and as quickly as possible._

_Father… had joined the soldiers of Hyrule?_

_But… the soldiers had a hard job. They had to go fight continuously against demons. There were a lot of soldiers who had died in battle each time._

_Lost in my thoughts, I forgot to skip the stair that creaked loudly on the staircase and flinched as it groaned loudly. Too loudly._

_The argument stopped abruptly. "Link…?" I heard my father call._

_Nonononononononono. I'm not here, I'm not here, I'm not here._

_I cringed and dashed up the staircase, not caring anymore how loud I was. I sprinted to my room and slammed the door behind me, locking it. I heard the sound of my father coming up the stairs, and soon the sound of him knocking on my door filled my ears. "Link? Link! Open the door!"_

_I stayed silent, wishing for him to just leave me alone, and soon the knocking subsided. I crawled under the covers of my bed, and went to sleep._

_I was awoken later by a strange feeling. Outside, the insects had stopped chirping. Instead, screams of panic and the ghostly sounds of things growling, snarling, moaning, and roaring all at the same time filled the air. I opened my eyes just as the window shattered. A large beast, completely black shadow, leaped into my room, growling at me. I yelped and scrambled away, snatching a shard of glass up from the floor. The creature dove for me and I rolled to the side as the monster slammed into the wall next to me. Without thinking, I drove the glass into the monster's hind leg. The beast howled, and I took that as my cue to yank the door open and rush downstairs. My mother and father were downstairs, my father's sword in his hand._

_"Go! Save Link!" He yelled behind his shoulder._

_My mother scooped me up._

_"T-There's a monster!" I screamed._

_"What?" My father turned towards me just as the beast appeared, knocking him off his feet; he landed with a thud on the floor. I stared, in wide-opened shock, as blood pooled._

_"GO!" My father yelled as he grappled with the beast. My mother nodded tightly and raced to the door. Suddenly, a spark flashed, and the wooden door was on fire. The flames caught quickly, eating up everything touching it, and soon the whole house was on fire._

_My mother pushed me away from the door._

_Suddenly, something flashed in front of me; a clawed hand picked me up._

_"I'll take it from here," A voice said._

_My mother looked at something just above my head and smiled gratefully but sadly. "Thank you," she whispered. Then she was gone as the flames roared, washing over her._

_"Mom! Dad!" I cried._

_A girl about my age looked at me sadly, "I'm sorry. I couldn't save them."_

_I was outside, a safe distance away from the house, listening to my parents' agonized screams as the fire consumed them. The sound would forever ring in my ears._

"You know, I didn't think birds came in this size. Massive roast chicken! Oh wait, not a chicken..."

I snapped up, a headache pounding in my head. Percy, having noticed my sudden move, glanced behind his shoulder back at me. "What's up?"

"Uh, nothing." I tried to act casual, but the images of the blood flowing from my father's wounds as he fought against the wolf and the fire consuming my mother and father flashed against my eyes.

Midna watched me understandably, a sad glint in her eyes, as if she knew what was going on in my mind. She turned away when I looked at her. "Next stop, Kakariko," she called as the bird flapped its wings, flying in the same downwards spiral it had been flying in when Annabeth shot it.

The bird landed in the forest without a sound next to the village. Midna leaped off gracefully and turned to the bird. "Good bird," she said softly, holding a hand of seeds to it. The bird squawked and pecked the seeds out from her hand. "Stay here, okay?" The bird made a bobbing motion with its head that could've been a nod. Midna turned to the rest of us. "Now, the village's right outside of this ring of trees over there," Midna said, pointing. "Do you want me to go take a look?"

"Yeah, thanks," I said.

Midna twisted in the air and leaped up to the top of the trees separating us from the village. She softly called down, "There's a few sentries going around the perimeter of the village gate walls. I think the monsters must've sent most of their forces to try to take Hyrule Castle, thinking they'd probably win and come back. From what I see, though… I think the guards held their own against the monsters back at the castle." Midna shrugged. "Well, that makes it easier for us." She leaped back down to us. "Though there are still quite a lot of monsters on guard. Like… twenty to thirty?"

"Are we going for the charge-and-attack-them-all-until-they're-dead approach or the sneak-around-them-and-enter-unmonitored approach?" I asked. On instinct, we all turned to Annabeth.

She thought about it for a while, then opened her mouth to answer.

* * *

**Nike: Mwa ha ha ha! Ooo, a cliffhanger! :) What shall she choose? Review with your thought! Whoever guesses correctly shall get a shout out in the next chappie! We 4554'd it this time! :D**

**Dargon: Yea! :D Also, don't forget to comment on our style of writing! Remember, this isn't possible without you guys!**


	3. Warped Monsters

**Okay, so, this chappie gets no shout out, because no one reviewed! How about this. Every review we get will get an answer. And everyone who reviews will get an answer. **

**Disclaimer: Want 'em lots, no own. 'Nuff said. :(**

* * *

**=Annabeth=**

I contemplated an answer as the stares of the others rested uncomfortably on me. I decided on the answer in a matter of seconds, but pretended to still be thinking to raise the suspension. Finally, after a long while, Percy said, "Just say it."

I jumped, surprised that Percy had known I had already made the decision a long time before. "Oh. Okay. Well, I think it would be the best to sneak around them. Twenty to thirty monsters at a time is pretty hard to handle at once."

"Alright. I knew you would take the more strategized way." Percy said knowingly.

I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, I've learned from previous experiences that in order to sneak into a place successfully, a diversion is your safest bet. Which is why I always carry a dust bomb around with me." I said, showing them the one in my hand.

Link looked at me incredulously. "Wow, you actually do things like that?"

"It's one of the Athena Cabin's many mottos, "Always be prepared." It's a useful motto, too."

"Isn't that the Boy Scout motto or something?" Percy asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"Yes, but it was a child of Athena who came up with it."

"Oh, well...you learn something new everyday."

"How did you know that it is the Boy Scout motto?"

"Mom forced me into it. 'cause I 'accidentally' ate all of her blue chocolate-chip cookies." Seeing my amused expression, he added, "what? They're irresistible!"

I laughed and shook my head. "Moving on. So, Midna's going to throw this dust bomb as far a she can -"

"Hold it. Why me?" Midna complained.

"Because you can fly. You'll be able to throw farther in the air and without trees in your way."

Link nodded in agreement. "True that. Midna, please?"

Midna sighed. "You've got a point there. Fine, I'll throw it."

I smiled, feeling a twinge of victory. "Okay, so, after Midna throws it as far as she can, the dust bomb will explode, sending dust fumes everywhere. The demons on watch will go to investigate that area, in order to find the source. While they're checking out the scene, we'll sneak in through the air vents, keeping as quiet as possible. If there are still some creatures blocking our path..." I shrugged. "We've got weapons. We'll just wipe them out, no problem."

"Yeah, but what if they're stronger than we thought?" Percy asked.

"With our luck, they probably will be. We've had crises like this before. We'll pull through."

"Wait. What are air vents?" Link asked with his eyebrows raised.

"You know, those air filtering thingys?" Percy tried to explain.

Link shook his head slowly. "No?"

"Percy, I don't think they have those. Alright, then. Change of plan. We'll just sneak in after the dust bomb explodes. We'll take out any inside monsters."

Midna smirked. "There are no inside monsters. They're all outside of the village."

I rolled my eyes - something I seemed to be doing a lot lately. "We can never be too cautious. Is that all? No more modifications needed?"

Everyone - except for Midna - shook their head. Majority rules.

I grinned. "Let's get this plan moving."

Midna made a low, irritated growling sound deep in her throat.

**.:Percy:.**

Finally, some action. I thought I was going to die from boredom.

I watched as Midna reluctantly flew upwards, grumbling about how she had never agreed to any of this. She turned around and glared at Annabeth one last time before aiming her outstretched ponytail clawed hand towards an effective area. After finding one, she retracted her claw, and allowed it to surge forward, releasing the dust bomb from its grasp. We all watched as it soared through the air, and anticipated the explosion. It came a few seconds later, releasing a humongous mass of dust into the air. I wonder if that would count as pollution...nah. Dust is a natural resource.

Annabeth nodded in satisfaction as shouts from the demons were heard. A few moments later, quick stomps sounded out as the horde rushed over to the scene of the dust bomb explosion.

Annabeth motioned for us to get going; we needed to hurry or else the demons would get back before our plan was completely carried out. Quickly and quietly, we scurried over to the village gates. Only two demons remained to guard. This was too easy.

I pulled out Riptide and uncapped the pen, allowing the sword blade to spring out. Link goggled at it for a heartbeat before snapping out of his trance and pulling out a sword of his own, along with a shield.. Midna transformed her ponytail into a claw, and Annabeth pulled out her silver dagger. We were armed, and ready.

Nimbly, we rushed towards the demons and attacked without warning.

"Woah, huh? Ow!" One yelped.

"An ambush!" The other realized way too late.

By then, we had already speared them through. With multiple fatal wounds all over their bodies, they screeched and evaporated into purplish mist.

I did a little victory dance. "Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!"

Annabeth smiled at my antics. After a moment, she began to frown worriedly. "Too easy…" she murmured.

Link nodded. "Something's up."

Netherless, we snuck around the village's gate walls until we reached the entrance. We walked in, only to witness a scene of massacre. Houses were ripped apart, wooden beams and stone chunks littering the ground. There was a well in the middle of the village, but the base had been smashed in, letting all the water out, spilling over the soaked ground. Black scorch marks smudged the buildings.

"What happened…?" I heard Link murmur to himself.

"There!" Midna pointed to a house that looked unscathed at the other end of the village. "I bet that's the elder's house." We dashed to the door. Link, who was closest to the door, looked back at us uncertainly. I nodded, and he tentatively put his hand on the door. He yanked the door open quickly, as if it burned him. Cautiously, we entered the house.

There was nothing in it. Just a wooden floor, stone walls, and a couple of pots. No elder, either. It seemed to be completely deserted.

"Wait… What?" I looked around.

"...Maybe we're not in the right house," Link suggested, though we all knew this was the only house the elder could be living in. Suddenly, a loud crash sounded outside, causing me to jump.

"What…" We all looked at each other.

"Well, only one way to find out, huh?" Midna mercilessly yanked the door open and floated outside.

We heard her gasp, and not a second later, she swooshed back in and slammed the door shut behind her.

She looked at us, her eyes wide. "There's some kind of beast outside. I've never seen anything like it."

Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows together. "Can you describe it?"

"It's like a spider. A huge, hairy thing," Midna shuddered. Annabeth's eyes went wide, and she paled rapidly.

I glanced at Link. "Let's go see for ourselves."

**+Link+**

We opened the door and looked around. No spider in sight. I looked upwards and saw...my worst nightmare. A scene was playing out above me. I began to tremble. Percy, sensing my fear, looked up too, and blanched. He must've been seeing it too. I began to hyperventilate and suddenly I was seven years old again.  
Fear ate at me, over and over again.

_No._

_NO!_  
Flames raged around the village, demons were attacking, I was merely a ghost as I looked around at the carnage.

Then I realized…

Kakariko village had been my village.

I wanted so desperately to close my eyes, to shut the image out, to not have to see it, but the vision kept them open mercilessly.

_Flash._ I was halfway down the steps, listening as my mom yelled at my dad.

_Flash._ The beast, in a shower of glass, leaped towards me, fangs bared.

_Flash…_ The same beast ripping my father's throat open…

_Flash._ My parents burning in the fire, the girl's eyes saying; _They're dead, Link._

_They're dead._

I stared at it all, feeling like my eyes were burning.

Now I wish I had been with my parents when they burned.

I cringed. Suddenly, I saw something strange. A black sphere in the midst of the flames that were slowly cooking my parents. That wasn't there before. I took a step forward without thinking towards the sphere. Suddenly, an arc of pain sliced up my body, quickly morphing into a burning sensation.

Real fire…?  
This wasn't a memory. Something inside of me snapped, and I drew my sword, leaping forward through the flames, trying to ignore the stabbing burns. I reached the sphere, and with all that I had, I brought my sword down and sliced the sphere in half.

The flames dispersed, everything disappeared and I was back in Kakariko village. No monsters, no fire, no parents burning.

I fell to my knees, shuddering uncontrollably.

Beside me, Percy clapped me on the shoulder. "I don't know what you did, but you got rid of it. Sweet move you did right there."

I didn't answer. Sobs began to escape my throat, sounding guttural and pathetically weak. I began to choke.

Someone suddenly was at my side. "Link…? He's been burned," I heard her say to the others.

"What? How?"

"I don't know…"

"Link? Link," The voice repeated, persistent. "It's fine. It's not there anymore. What were you seeing?"

"You know," I managed to choke out.

Midna faltered. "Oh…" She decided not to push, seeing the state I was in. "Come on. Can you get up?"

I gave one last shudder, before regaining my composure and standing up, feeling like a weakling. I smiled weakly at everyone in embarrassment.

"It's alright. Everyone has times like those." Percy admitted grudgingly. Really? Him of all people? Huh. Never knew.

Suddenly, a howl erupted in the distance, followed by a rustle of heave steps.

"Did you guys hear that? Or was it just me?" Percy asked.

"We all did. You're not hallucinating." We answered.

"Then...what is it?"

"I don't know." I looked towards Annabeth for an answer; she seemed to be the smartest one here.

She shrugged. "It definitely didn't sound human, and the footsteps sounded slightly muffled, as if the feet were covered in fur. My guess is that it's some kind of monster like animal. The only furry animal that pops into mind when I think about the signs is...a hellhound."

"Could it be Mrs.O'Leary?" Percy asked hopefully.

Annabeth shook her head. "No, I don't think so. The howl just didn't sit right, if you know what I mean."

Percy sighed. "You're right. The howl gave me an uneasy feeling."

As if on cue, a large shadow-like dog bounded towards us. On it rode something...unique, to put it mildly. It was obviously a nonhuman woman. Out of its head sprung two curvy horns. On its back were two demonly leathery wings. Its hair was a flaming red mass; it was extremely frizzy and red eyes seemed to burn into me as they sweeped over our group of four.

It smiling wickedly at us, revealing extremely sharp canine teeth. "Perseus Jackson…" I saw Percy cringe at his full name out of the corner of my eye. "We meet again."

I looked from the monster to Percy. "Friend of yours?" I murmured.

Percy snorted. "As if. Kelli, I presume?"  
Kelli hissed. "I'm surprised you remember me, much less my name. You would've been a good freshman at the school."

"Except for the fact you tried to kill me at orientation," Percy pointed out.

Kelli thought. "Well, that is true. But still." She nudged the hellhound forward, closer to us.

"Wait, how'd you get here?" Annabeth suddenly asked.

"What do you mean, 'How did I get here'?" The monster hissed.

"You're obviously not supposed to be here. So spit it out."  
"My lord Kronos has brought me here, with the aid of Ganondorf, to take you and your other petty friends out, if you do not surrender." We all flinched in surprise at the mention of Kronos and Ganondorf. "What, is this surprising news?" Kelli grinned.

Ganondorf and Kronos… Whoever that is… Working together? Doesn't sound too good...

"Well, enough chitchat. Nice meeting y'all, but I'm afraid we should cut to the chase. Let's see your fighting skills now, hmmm?" The hellhound suddenly leaped at us, growling. Percy leaped in front of us with amazingly fast speed and pierced the hellhound's throat. It snarled in irritation as shadow covered up the slash mark, leaving no trace of a wound.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that would happen." Percy muttered, throwing in some wicked-sounding words in a different language. Was he cursing? He looked around. "Is there any fire we have?"

I flinched at the word fire. "Nope." Something suddenly occurred to me "Oh, wait. Yep." I drew my sword, which was pulsing with blue light, and ducked low just as the hellhound jumped at me, missing me by inches and skidding over me. I whipped around, slashing my sword in an arc and slicing the monster's legs off from under itself. The light from my sword vaporised the monster instantly. The empousa landed on its feet like a cat as her ride disappeared into shadow, hissing.

"Well, well. Looks like Perseus isn't the only swordsman here," The empousa sneered at me. "I wonder if your blood will be sweet." she said thoughtfully.

I growled and attacked dodged gracefully. "Now, now. Haven't your parents taught you to never hurt a woman?"

"You're a poor excuse for one." I said through gritted teeth.

"Good one, Link!" I heard Percy call out. I turned my head a little towards his direction and smiled.

That small movement and smile could've cost me my life.

I saw Percy's eyes widen, and him calling out a warning. I tried to move, but something held my ankle in place. The empousa's hand. She grinned, already seeing my defeat. As quick as lightning, she jumped up and stepped behind me, keeping me in an armlock that disabled my defenses. She giggled in anticipation and sunk her teeth into the nape of my neck.

"Argh!" I cried out as she began sucking out my blood. My vision became more and more hazy as I lost blood. After what seemed like hours, I think I remember seeing Midna come over and kick the empousa off, Percy slashing through her, and Annabeth piercing its heart, turning it into dust. I think I remember someone shaking my shoulder after it was all over, but I was too far gone to respond to any of it. Too far gone, and welcoming the blackness that overtook me.

_"Why? WHY?" I screamed, trying to run back into the house, but the girl held me back._

_"Don't. They're dead. You know it. Going back in there is suicidal. They sacrificed their lives for you, Link. To die, even with that sacrifice, is to not care about your parents."_

_I slumped. "Who are you? Are you a monster?"_

_The girl looked down at me sadly. "I am. Well, I was supposed to be one. But I work for good. I'm your protector. Your mother hired me to protect you."_

_"Why would I need protecting?" I snapped._

_"Because… Listen. I can't tell you right now. You're not old enough to know, yet. I'm serious. You're not supposed to know yet. You're too young." The girl sighed. "At your age… Well, no one should carry a burden like this. A seven year old is not supposed to have the fate of the world resting on his shoulders."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_The girl ignored me. "Right now we have to get going. The monsters will notice us here soon."_

_"Where are we going?"_

_"To Hyrule Castle. Your mother wanted me to bring you there for safety."_

_"Wait… Thank you." The girl turned to look at me, surprised._

_"Thank… me?"_

_"Yes. Thank you… Tell me your name."_

_The girl smiled. She reached a hand up, stroking my hair. "I'm Midna. And…" She paused. "I know exactly how you feel. The same thing happened to me."_

**^Nico^**

Percy and Annabeth have been missing for twelve hours now. Chiron recently gathered all of the campers around the Big House, probably to declare them officially missing.

"As you all know, nobody knows where Percy and Annabeth are. According to camp policies, when a camper goes missing for twelve hours, they are declared missing. I, Chiron, declare Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase officially missing." Yup, I knew he was going to say that. "I'm now going to send off search parties. Any volunteers?"

Nope, I thought as just about everyone's hands shot up. Oops, I stand corrected; everyone wanted to be the hero who saved the heroes. Of course. I stared at the wall, my arms folded.

I watched as Chiron picked out the search parties; three people each. "Nico, Hazel, and Frank." I jumped a little as he called my name; I hadn't been expecting that. I glared at Chiron, and he shrugged good naturedly. "Get with your groups and I'm going to send you off soon."

The people who had been placed into groups quickly gathered together and watched Chiron with eager eyes. They couldn't wait to get this quest started. Slowly, I heaved myself off the wall lazily, and looked around for Hazel and Frank.

Ah, there they are. Found them. They were standing next to the Big House, making lovey dovey eyes at each other. Ew. I was going to be the third wheel, goodies. I'm simply quivering in excitement. After about ten years, they finally peeled themselves out of each others' eyes, long enough to notice me.

"Oh, hey, Nico." Hazel said, intertwining her hand with Frank's.

"Yo. We're a group, so please don't," I gestured toward their interlocked hands. "You know, do anything more than that."

"Wouldn't even think of it." Frank replied gruffly, even though his eyes said something else.

I smirked lightly. Yup, I believe you, Frankie boy. Chiron cleared his throat, forcing us to turn our attention back to him.

"Alright, so I have chosen four groups of three; one to go in each main cardinal direction. I will now tell you guys the direction you will all be headed. Jason, Piper, and Leo, you three will be going north. Travis, Connor, and Katie, you three will be headed east. Will, Clarisse, and Chris, you guys are going south. Finally, Nico, Hazel, and Frank, the west is all yours." He instructed.

I decided to look on the dark side; at least we'll be going towards the 'land of the dead'.

"Now, if none of you are able to find Percy and Annabeth after a week, I expect you to come back immediately. Any who don't will get search parties searching after them."

Good, a time limit. I'm loving this. A whole week without my precious bed. How will I survive?

I sighed, and turned to look in Hazel and Frank's general direction. "Let's get going, guys. We have to be the first ones who find them."

They nodded firmly in agreement. Percy, here we come. Wait, Percy and Annabeth, here we come.

"When should we leave?" Frank asked.

"Tonight. Meet at Thalia's tree at nine." I said, unknowingly appointing myself leader.

"Alright. Let's get packing." Hazel said, walking off to the Hades cabin.

Third wheel me, yippee.

**~Chiron~**

Search parties, to find the best demigods of the century. How ironic. I know that no one will find them, but I had to boost their confidence, and make them feel like there's actually a chance that their still reachable. Sure, they're alive for real, but they're not findable by foot. I truly wonder if anyone will even come back after one week of searching. I know that I'm risking their lives, but I had to, for the sake of the camp's sanity. Besides, they'll be fine. I had, after all, sent out the best demigods to search for them. Who knows, maybe my assumptions and suspicions were incorrect, and one of the search parties will actually find the missing couple.

Go, my searching campers, and bring back our lost heroes.

**\Midna/**

"Link, YOU IDIOT," I hissed into his ear.

"Sorrrrryyyyyyyy," he mumbled weakly as his eyes fluttered.

"You almost lost all of your blood and you passed out for almost ten minutes. You know that, right?"

"I suppose so. Hey, what did you mean that 'It happened to me, too'?"

I reeled back in surprise. "Wait. You remember that?!"  
"How can I not? My parents frickin' died on that day!"  
Percy and Annabeth were watching our exchange curiously. I glared at them and they looked away. Then I turned back to Link. "I'm not gonna tell you now, with two eavesdroppers right behind us."

"We're not eavesdropping. You're just talking loud enough for us to hear." Percy mumbled.

Annabeth kicked him in the shin.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Hay is for horses, Seaweed Brain. Now be quiet, they're having a moment. A moment of truth." That shut him up.

"How about I tell you later, and you tell me how you remember that?" I continued, ignoring them.

"Am I not supposed to remember?"

"Listen, I took that memory away from you."

"WHAT?! WHY?"

"Or at least I thought I did. It seems like it didn't work."

"Do me a favor, and stop talking to me."  
I sighed. "I'm sorry, but I had to. I'll tell you later. I'll tell you everything later."

Link sighed too. "That's not really how my parents died, is it?"

I stared at him. "Okay, we'll talk later." I pulled him up to his feet. "Let's get going."

"Wait, but the elder…" Link started to say.

"He's not here. We searched everywhere, but he's not here."

"Are you positive about that?" A gruff voice sounded behind us. I whipped around to see the elder standing there.

"WHERE WERE YOU? WE WERE LOOKING FOR YOU, AND NOW YOU DECIDE TO SHOW UP?" I demanded, maybe just a little bit louder than I intended.

"Show some respect," Link snapped.

"Well, you almost died because of him!"

"Now, now, that was clearly not my intention. I was in hiding because of that monster, a secret place that you couldn't have found. Who are those two?" the elder asked, motioning to Annabeth and Percy.

"Annabeth," Percy said, flustered.

"Percy," Annabeth said.

"Idiots," I muttered.

"HEY!"

The elder stared at Percy and Annabeth. "Now, I apologize for asking, but do you know a certain Chiron?"

"Chiron?" They looked at each other in wide-eyes surprise. "Yeah!"

The elder laughed. "I'm sure you're wondering how I know him, with us being in Hyrule and all that. Chiron and I were acquaintances, back when travel was possible in between places. But now, that connection has been severed. Now, only Chiron and I know how to travel. And… two others." The elder's expression suddenly grew serious.

"Who…?" Link asked tentatively, as if afraid of the answer.

"As soon as young Annabeth and Percy arrived here, Ganondorf decided to make an ally of Kronos. Now they are working together."

"That explains why the hellhound and empousa were able to travel here," Annabeth said.

The elder nodded. "Believe me, Ganondorf and Kronos will not let you go back to Camp Half-Blood without being blocked. Being blocked while traveling to place to place is extremely dangerous, as an obstacle may leave you stuck in a void in between the worlds forever."

"So, do we have to take them out?" Percy asked.

"I'm afraid so. Then you may be able to leap back home."

"Where are they?" Link asked.

"Hold on, youngsters." The elder chuckled. "Not so fast. No matter how much of a swordsman you are, your courage and weapons alone will not be able to stop them, now that their powers are combined with them working together. In a cursed valley, there lies a sleeping pearl. That pearl has the powers of the triforce goddesses, and will aid you. Once you obtain the pearl, come back here and I will lead you to their fortress."

"Where's this valley?" I asked.

"Link, do you still have that map I gave you?"  
Link drew an old, weathered-looking scroll out and handed it to the elder, who took it and unrolled it. He scratched an X onto a spot on the map and handed it back to Link. "You must hurry. No one knows how long Ganondorf and Kronos will take before they shut the connections between the world completely." With that, the elder walked away, and we were left alone.

**Kronos**

I watched the four through my mind's eye. So, Perseus Jackson and his blonde sidekick, again? This was too easy. I will wipe them out in a heartbeat. I opened my eyes, and turned towards my sidekick - I mean, ally - Ganondorf.

"They're planning to defeat us with the pearl. Isn't that exciting?"

He sneered. "Sure is, Kronos. This'll be easy. As if a stupid pearl could defeat us." He cracked his knuckles for effect.

Soon, my true plan will come into focus, though it'll be too late for Hyrule and Camp Half-Blood to realize, I thought as I watched the four pesky ants stumble around blindly, trying to find a way to defeat us.

**#Frank#**

Somehow, I had a good feeling that we weren't going to find Percy and Annabeth. Something felt… off. Like they were out of our reach, even if we searched the whole entire world.

Where could they have gone, anyways? Why would they suddenly ditch a game of Capture the Flag and disappear?

Maybe someone kidnapped them or something, I thought, then shook my head. Nah. They were strong enough to fend off any kidnappers. Well, that's what search parties are for.

At nine I shuffled out of the cabin and headed up the hill to Thalia's tree. Nico and Hazel were already there, bags slung over their shoulders.

"Oops. How long have you guys been here?" I asked.

"Nah, you're fine," Nico said. "We only just came up here a few moments ago." Without another word, he turned and marched off towards the west. I glanced at Hazel questionably, but she just shook her head. I shrugged, took Hazel's hand in mine, and we followed Nico.

We walked for a few hours in the night before Nico suddenly whipped his arm out in front of us, stopping our walk. He held a finger to his lips. "Do you hear that?" A muffled squawking and snorting sounded behind the trees in front of us.

"What is that?" I asked.

"A monster, but I don't recognize its sound." Hazel leaned closer, stepping forward. Suddenly, a loud screech emitted from the monsters and three of them leaped out from the trees.

My first thought was: OH GODS, WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?!

My second thought was a lot calmer: We're screwed.

The monsters looked like lizards standing upright, with fanged teeth and full body armor, holding arm-length swords I had never seen before. They split up and simultaneously attacked each of us at the same time; one monster for each demigod. I nocked an arrow onto my bow and shot it at my opposing monster. As fast as lightning, the monster whipped its arm up, which was heavily armed, like a shield. The arrow glanced off of its armor and it was knocked back with a clang and a shower of sparks.

"What kind of monsters are these?" I yelled as I leaped back to avoid a fierce uppercut from the lizard.

"I dunno," Nico shouted back as he grappled with his attacker. "Never seen it before."

"Hazel?"

"Me neither!" She fanned her face in anxiety.

I positioned my bow this time so that it targeted the monster's eyes, which shone brightly underneath the helmet it wore. They might be its weak point. I sht, letting the arrow fly. This time it hit spot-on, piercing the yellow of the beast's left eye and releasing a spurt of blood.

Monsters don't bleed.

It dawned on me that something was wrong, like these monsters were somehow not supposed to be here. Without warning, the monster struck, slashing outward. Too shocked by the sudden movement, without thinking I raised my bow to defend myself. The sword cut right through the bow like it was butter and left a huge, bleeding gash running across the length of my arm. I jumped back as the lizard screeched in delight and slashed out again, clutching my busted arm.

The others were also occupied with each of their attackers, and were too busy to help me. I stared up at the monster, weaponless, as it slowly advanced on me, taking its time as it already knew I was done for, a fanged grin stretching its mouth. Oh, this was going to be a meal for it.

* * *

** Dargon: Man, we are sure hitting it on with the cliffhangers! XD**

**Nike: Oh, yes. (TinLights style) Okay, so, I think maybe our goal for each chapter is to get at least 4,000 words for each chappie. :)**

**Dargon: As we ALWAYS say, please, review on our writing ! It's like opening a really good present on Christmas when we get one of those! LOL**

**Nike: Seriously, though. Please review, or else we're gonna start doing those harsh incentives, such as two reviews for the next chappie. We won't do that, though, if we get reviews. Without reviews, we won't know how you feel about this story. We won't know if you like this story or not. We won't know if you find long authors' notes like this one annoying (Dargon: Or if you find Nike too serious! LOL). We won't know if you like our style of writing or not. In other words, we [or just me] (Dargon: Right!) will be all sentimental like this in the authors' notes, and I'll be more serious. (Dargon: Oh, who said you were serious?) MOI!**

**OMG, GUYZZZZZ, TWILIGHT ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTED! :O THANKS, TWILIGHT!**


	4. Kronos' Game

**This chapter is dedicated to dario flaman ****for being the first person to review to this story. :D Cookie to you! (::)**

**Disclaimer: Why do we even bother? You know we don't own 'em.**

* * *

**.:Percy:.**

When we arrived at the cursed valley, it had already turned nighttime, which didn't help at all.

"So, this is cursed? As in, like, ghosts and stuff?" I asked.

"Keep your voice down," Annabeth teased. "Or the ghosts might come out and getcha." I rolled my eyes at her but couldn't help but repress a shudder. A misty, purplish fog suddenly lifted off of the ground, enveloping us in it. I couldn't see anything, not even my own hand as I lifted it in front of my face.

"Where are you guys?" My voice was a hushed whisper. I was not going to be stuck alone in a creepy valley.

"Over here," a voice called, but it reverberated everywhere at once.

"Not helping," I murmured to myself. I was lost, cut off from the others. Trying extremely hard not to just curl up into a ball and hide from the haunting voices that had suddenly surfaced in my mind.

Turn back… One of them moaned.

A fool's errand to come here… Another howled.

Turn around and walk away… You will be glad you did…

I started to panic. Where were the others? I backed up as a cold shiver crept up my spine, and hit something ice-cold. I reflexively drew Riptide out as I spun around.

Link raised his hands in surrender. "Chill! It's just me!"

"Oh." Feeling like I had been too dramatic, I clicked Riptide, and it turned back into a pen. "Sorry. Where'd the others go?"

Link shrugged. "This fog seems to be blocking both sight and sound. I can't hear anything." He looked around us. "There's gravestones all over the place on the ground," he added casually.

I jumped. "We're in a graveyard?!"

Link nodded. "It's the resting place of all the past kings of Hyrule."

"Why would it be cursed, then?"

Link only shook his head.

I turned as my foot hit something. A misshapen gravestone wa stuck into the ground. I bent down to read its inscription. The figures carved into the stone looked like runes, but I couldn't decipher them. "Hey," I said, still looking at the figures. "Can you read this? I have no idea…"

When Link didn't respond, I cautiously peeked a glance over my shoulder. Link stood above me, his sword drawn high above me, as if he were about to bring it down on my head. I yelped and rolled to the side just as the sword cleaved the ground in half right beside me.

"Traitor!" I gasped.

"Nope," Link hissed, grinning. His teeth were suddenly fangs. All of the color seemed to seep out of Link's complexion as he turned a dark shade of gray and black, almost as if he was a shadow himself. At first I thought his eyes were bleeding, but then I realized his eyes had morphed to a blood-red from his usual blue. It was Link… but not Link.

"Who are you?" I snarled.

"Figured it out, haven't you? Yes, I am not Link… but I am." He laughed, a cold, sharp sound.

"What're you talking about?" I demanded.

The shadow's eyes narrowed. "I'm talking about seeing things that aren't what they exactly seem." He raised his sword, which crackled with dark energy. "And now, your foolhardy pesky little 'adventure' shall end here." Dark tendrils of energy blasted out of of his sword, wrapping around me. Stinging pains shot up me as the energy arced along my arms, causing me to fall to the ground. I was paralyzed as I could only stare up at the monster that grinned and raised its sword again.

A blur suddenly shot out from the mist surrounding us straight at the monster. The monster turned just in time as it sliced a wide arc through the shadow. The arc went straight through the monster's body, seemingly leaving it unscathed, but the monster screeched and fell back.

The monster hissed. "I should've known."  
"Yeah, and you shouldn't have left your guard down," Link said.

I looked between the monster Link and the real Link. "Hey, are you guys buddies, or what?"

The monster Link glanced at me for a split second, but that was all Link needed. He thrusted his sword into the shadow's stomach, and he reeled. Without thinking, I leapt up and swung Riptide downwards, slicing the shadow in half. It dissipated into multiple dark tendrils, which shot up into the sky into a glowing blue portal that had appeared. The portal then disappeared.

"Nice! But he'll be back." Link turned to me, sweeping hair out of his face. "You all right?"  
"Yeah. Who was that?"

"Shadow Link."  
"Excuse me?" I sniggered. "He's called that? Actually, a shadow Link?"  
"Uh, yeah. He was created by Ganondorf to rival me. But he's not evil."

"Not… evil?" I rolled my eyes. "Please. Were you seeing what happened, or what? Seems pretty evil to me."

Link merely shook his head.

I nudged the gravestone next to me. "Do you know what this says?" He knelt down in front of the letters written on the stone.

"Yeah. It's in Hylian." He studied the letters for a second, then his eyes noticeably narrowed.

"...What?" I asked, suddenly half-afraid of the answer.

"It says… 'Here lies Perseus Jackson.' That's it."

**$Hazel$**

I slashed at the monster-lizard as it came closer to me, trying to shear off its unprotected tail, but the monster always seemed to twist every time at the right time to dodge my attacks.

What would Frank do at a time like this? I looked towards Frank to see how he was holding up.

He was laying on his back, weaponless, his eyes squeezed shut, anticipating his death.

I rolled my eyes. Couldn't he just shape-shift? Nico seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"FRANK, YOU FREAKING IDIOT! SHAPESHIFT INTO SOMETHING!" He yelled, summoning more skeletons to fight at his side.

Frank opened an eye. "Right, I was just going to do that, obviously."

"Sure Frankie boy, I believe you."

"His name's Frank."

"It's called sarcasm, Hazel."

"Sarcasm? What is this thing you call sarcasm?" I asked, fanning my face. This information is new. There was no sarcasm in my time.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Kill your monster-lizard. We'll finish this conversation later."

I nodded, and swung my spatha in a downwards motion, finally managing to cut off its tail. Blood gushed out, forming a red pool of blood. The monster screeched, and dissipated into purple dust.

Really? So, in order to kill the monster, all I needed was a casual conversation? I wiped my brow, and turned to see how the others faring.

Nico was holding up quite well, but he seemed to be slightly exhausted, probably from using up so much energy to summon more skeletal soldiers to fight with him. Finally, he sighed, and shrugged, as if deciding on something. He lazily pulled out his stygian iron sword, and used his skeleton soldiers to distract the lizard. Slowly, he crept forward, and slashed the tail off, killing it instantly.

I stared. "Why didn't you do that in the first place?"

He shrugged. "Eh, didn't feel like it."

I shook my head. "How lazy can one be?"

"I like to think of myself as the laziest person alive."

We turned to see how Frank was holding up when he turned into a crocodile. His face stretched into a long, thin snout, sharp teeth shooting out from his gums. The usual dark-brown of his eyes morphed into cat-like slitted eyes. Frank fell onto all fours as his hands turned gnarly and clawed, dark green scales coating his skin and ridging his back. Finally, a long, reptilian tail shot out, and Frank launched himself at the lizard, wrenching his mouth wide open. A squeal followed by a wet gulp soon sounded, and Frank licked his chops.

"UGH!" I blanched. "You _ate_ it?!"

Frank turned back to his human form, his eyes wide. "Wait… I did?!"

"Uh, yeah!"

Frank coughed. "Uh, sorry. It tasted like chicken."

Bile rose in my throat. "Um, ew. Too much information."

"Lovebirds, this way. we've got another set of lovey doveys to catch." Nico called, motioning for us to follow him on our trek towards the western direction.

Ugh. Sometimes my half-brother could be so annoying.

**+Link+**

Is Percy dead? Is he one of those walking dead? Am I talking to an undead right now? I studied Percy's expression as I told him what the inscription said.

Percy looked at the grave again. "That idiot," I heard him mutter under his breath.

I stared at him. Finally, he decided to continue. "I know it sounds like I'm probably crazy. But this was Kronos's doing. I'm not dead, silly. He put this here as a sign to mark that he was already marking our deaths." He shrugged. "No biggie."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Look. It's hard to see, but this is his crest here." He pointed to a figure on the grave. I leaned closer to see the carved in symbol. It was an arch, with a cross underneath it.

"Oh. Sorry. I thought you were…" I tried to say, then shook my head.

"Nah, it's fine. Where're the others?" Percy looked around.

"Uh…" I trailed off and scratched my head. Where _were _they? I haven't seen them since we entered the graveyard. "I don't know." I admitted.

"Me neither. Let's go look for them."

"Alright."

We clambered over some gravestones. Along the way, we saw Annabeth's marker as well. "I'm surprised that Kronos actually remembered her name. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing." Percy had said when he saw it.

After a while, my sharp ears picked up a familiar sounding voice. "I think I hear Midna up ahead."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought I heard Annabeth."

"Which direction do you think her voice was coming from?" I asked him.

He pointed to his right.

"Oh. I heard Midna's voice coming from over there." I said, pointing in the opposite direction. "Do you think we should separate so we can cover more ground in less time?"

Percy shook his head. "No, I don't think we should. I mean, who knows what might happen if we split up again. We might not even see each other until days later, if the situation gets bad enough. Also, if each of us gets ambushed, we won't have anyone to help us if we get gravely injured. Man, Annabeth is rubbing off on me."

I nodded. He had a point there. "Alright. So which way first?"

"Annabeth. She's smart and resourceful. She can see through lies and stuff." Percy replied without hesitation.

I frowned. "But what about Midna?"

Percy shrugged in irritation. "Dude. You asked me to choose who we'd find first. Who did you think I'd choose? Was it just to start an argument?"

Sort of. "No, of course not. Let's go find Annabeth." That way, I'll be the third wheel for a while until we find Midna. Oh well. I'll live with it.

We turned towards the direction of where Percy had heard Annabeth's voice, and began walking again.

We didn't get very far. Up ahead, a lake of fire billowed past, with the same elements of a wildfire. It blazed against the dark night sky, glowing brightly.

"Holy Hephaestus! Just my luck. How did I not see this?" Percy muttered under his breath.

I shrugged. "I didn't see it until now too."

"I guess we score even in the perspective and attentive to details department."

"Yup. A perfect circle."

"Circle?"

"Zero. Same difference."

"Sure. But, as far as I know, a zero is an oval."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just help me find a way to get across."

"On it." he squeezed his eyes shut and placed his middle and index fingers on his temples.

What is he trying to do?

Sensing my befuddlement, he said, "Just testing something. Seeing if it'll work."

"If what'll work?"

"My powers, duh. It's a river of fire. I should be able to control any type of river."

Right. "I'll look for another way in case that doesn't work."

He nodded and squeezed his eyes shut again, returning to his original stance. I looked around and saw multiple, flat stones littered on the ground. To test them, I placed one flat on the river's surface. The stone immediately sank under. Nah, I thought to myself, shaking my head. It was a dumb idea in the first place…

I looked back at Percy, who was still concentrating. All of a sudden, a loud roar shook the ground, and I yelped and dove out of the way just as the river exploded, sending red-hot splashes everywhere. I scrambled to my feet to see a large dome of the lava rising up from the riverbed stretching from the bank we were on to the other bank, creating a path through the river.

"Whoah!" I yelped. "That's so cool!"  
Percy snorted, but he looked pleased with himself. "Please. Hurry up and cross before I lose my concentration."

I half-ran half-walked through the dome, looking around to see the lava rising up over me. A guy like Percy who had this kind of power was amazing. I made it to the other side, where I clambered onto the bank. Seconds later, Percy appeared next to me, and the dome crashed back down, splashing back into its riverbed as Percy released hold on it. Percy took a deep breath, brushing his brow where sweat had broken out.

"C'mon," He motioned for me to follow. "I hear Annabeth this way."

I nodded and followed him. Obstacle one cleared. I wonder what awaits.

← **Clarisse → **

Those punks are going to return to Camp Half-Blood, whether they like it or not. Nobody, I repeat, Nobody, is allowed to just leave camp like that. Those punks were gonna pay. I continued trekking on our long, unneeded quest with Chris and Will at my side. Why not just Chris? Couldn't Chiron assign Chris and I to go search for the couple ourselves, without Will tagging along? That way we could at least get some alone time.

"We can split up." Will suggested after a while, as if sensing my thoughts. "I mean, we'll have a larger chance of finding them quicker."

I nodded vigorously in agreement, almost too quickly. Will stared at me and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Chris shot me a warning look; a look that told me not to push it too far. Oh, Chris. Innocence is bliss.

"Hey, Chris. Wanna -" I began, only to be interrupted by none other than - you guessed it - Will Solace. Stupid frickin' Fates. Ruining a moment.

"Clarisse, Chris, I would really appreciate if you don't go too far with any of your...couple stuff."

I stared at him, wide-eyed. "What the Hades?! I was only asking Chris if he wanted to help me find some food! We only have a meager supply, Air Head!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh. Sorry. My mistake. Just a little bit paranoid." Will put up his hands in mock surrender.

"Yes, it was your mistake, you son of the sun."

Chris cracked up. "Ha ha...I...see...what...you...did...there…" He heaved between laughs.

I smiled slightly, happy to hear Chris' laugh. I hadn't heard it in a long time. Of course, Will had to ruin it for me again. Typical.

Will raised an eyebrow. "How is that funny?"

Chris shut his mouth immediately, his laughter quickly dying out. He blushed cutely and ducked his head, embarrassed. Wait. Did I just say he blushed cutely? Lords of Olympus, how Aphrodite-like can I get?! It's revolting. Time to end my Aphrodite worthy thoughts.

"Will, stay here and set up camp. It's getting late." I said, looking towards the sky. Apollo's chariot was soon going to be done with its journey. "Chris and I will go find food. We don't want to starve to death like the pilgrims did."

"You know about the pilgrims?" Will feigned surprise.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not dumb, Sunny D. Besides, Annabeth would never let me forget. If I said that I was starving, she'd look at me straight in the eyes, and say, 'You're not starving. The pilgrims were starving. You know nothing of the pain and hunger they had to endure.'"

"So...you're saying that if Annabeth never told you, you would never know about the pilgrims?" Will bit his lip to hold back a snort.

Chris narrowed his eyes and put an arm protectively around my shoulders. "Hey, mister. Lookie here. My girlfriend is smarter than you'll ever be, so shut your smart-aleck mouth and do as she says."

I smiled at him gratefully, and he smiled back.

Will huffed, and closed his mouth. He turned on his heel and began to set up camp.

Chris motioned for me to follow him, and we walked, hand in hand, in search for food.

**=Annabeth=**

How long had it been? Days? Hours? Minutes? I couldn't tell. All I knew was that our group of questing four had been separated a while ago. I stopped walking for a second, and looked around, hoping to see someone recognizable. A figure moved up ahead, shrouded in grayish mist.

"Percy?" I called, hopeful.

It was moving closer and closer. I had a feeling in my gut that it wouldn't be Percy, but I stayed still, my hope that it was him waning with each moment that ticked by.

"Percy?" I shouted, waiting for a reply. There was none. The figure just continued moving closer, slowly approaching my spot. I stood there dumbly, frozen in place. A tuft of blonde hair caught my eye. Oh, it's Link. Phew. I smiled a little, relieved that the figure wasn't an enemy.

"Sorry, Link, for calling you Percy! My mistake! C'mon, help me find the others!" I began to run up to him.

I froze when I saw who it actually was.

A boy with blonde hair and sky blue eyes looked back at me, a smirk planted on his lips. "Annabeth Chase, we meet again."

He was Luke Castellan, back from the grave.

**Kronos**

My, my, my. Looks like Luke has come to join the party. What fun. Another pawn I shall use. I'll have all of them dance on my open palm, my power and control over them absolute. Such a shame that they don't know that they're just playing to my rules, in my game. They even have the innocence to believe that they're winning. They even think they won the last titan war. The truth is, they didn't. We just pretended to lose, so that we could lie low for a while, and strike with our ultimate move when the time was ripe. That time is now. This time, no one would be spared. Us titans will demolish all of the insignificant human specimens on this planet. The demigods, gods, and giants alike will be enslaved to do our bidding. My dream of a perfect world will be fulfilled.

"Hey, partner, is this really necessary?" Ganondorf asked, watching me use game pieces that symbolized each questing demigod.

I glared at him, and saw him shrivel under my gaze. I smirked, satisfied. "Yes, It is absolutely necessary. I must keep track of how this game is progressing. It is of the utmost importance that I don't miss something crucial to the cause."

He nodded in agreement. "Of course, Kronos. I was just thinking the same thing. Just asked you to confirm my thoughts."

I rolled my eyes and redirected my attention to the blondie and Luke. Before reverting my attention to Perseus and the elfish green hatted thing, I sent them a telepathic message.

No matter what you think, you are always on the losing side. I will always win, no matter how hard you try. I am superior to you mere mortals, and in due time, you will willingly be bowing before me.

**\Midna/**

Ok…let's see...I'm in a desert valley, alone and wandering around some haunted graveyard. I'm trying to find Link and the others, but all I see is gravestones littered across this wasteland. Very resourceful, I know. As I trudged through the cracked earth, I started to feel desperate.

_Where are you guys? _My mind was racing. Link, Annabeth, Percy; they may be slow, but honestly, it'd felt like an hour since we were separated, at least one of them should of found me by now.

Voices mumbled and whispered to me. "_They've left you; they don't care what happens to you…" _

"Shut it!" I fought back with my strongest voice. _It's ok_, _this is the Haunted Valley, random voices try deject you on purpose!_ I reminded myself. Still, the more I reasoned, the more I started to wonder, _What if they did leave me here…? _

A lulling masculine voice clearer than the others breathed into my ear, "Lord Ganondorf sees something in you, why not serve him? Nobody else likes you. Think about it, you could be left hand of his rule!_" _

That was true; I could picture myself being a lord, finally the center of attention. Everything could be mine…

"NO!" I suddenly screamed. I leaped back, summoning my powers, casting a shield of fire over from the voice. "Get away from me!" I snarled, flames leaped in my palm, ready to blast this voice into smithereens.

"Aww….is little Midna afraid?" The murmur was louder than the others. A curtain of rippling shadows formed in the direction of the voice. As the shadow parted, it revealed a man. He was not much different from most other citizens of Hyrule. Like us, he had elf-ish ears, pointed at the tip. He wore a velvet clad cloak and hat ringed of gold and embedded with jewels . His face had a very serious twinge to it, as if he had been weathered by past experiences. His eyes were a crimson red. Underneath his right eye was a curved black line, outlining the bottom half of his eyelid. From the curved line sprouted a vertical line, stopping an inch away from its start. I recognized him instantly.

"Vaati." I regarded him with caution, knowing what he was capable of doing. "How did you escape? You were sealed away in the Four Swords centuries ago!"

"Ah, those weak sages thought they could seal me away, did they? I just proved them wrong. Nothing can restrain me!"

I smirked. "Nothing? Well, the spells worked for centuries, and in my book, that's considered restrained."

He growled, taking a few breaths to recompose himself, knowing that I was right. Trying to keep his anger from getting to him, he continued speaking. "Lord Ganondorf has broken free from his prison, freeing the five great sins along with him!"

That made my smirk melt into a scowl. _The five great sins? Not good. _

"Yes, the five great sins. Don't know what they are? Well, you're going to find out soon."

I glared. I knew exactly what the five great sins were from experience. A hunch told me that this was not going to be pretty.

**(Chris)**

Nighttime had fallen, and Clarisse and I were snuggled up in the tent as Will stood on first watch outside.

"This isn't how I expected our night to be like, with the tent and being in the middle of the wilderness and all that…" I murmured.

Clarisse smiled. "Nah, as long as we have… each other…" Her eyes widened as if she thought she was sounding sappy, and she looked away, blushing furiously.

I was perfectly fine with it, though. We stayed silent for a few more minutes, watching the dark patch of starry sky that shone through the flap of the tent entrance, when Will suddenly yelled out outside. I rolled my eyes at Clarisse. "Now what?"  
"Ruining our moment here," Clarisse muttered to herself. "I guess we should go see what he's doing," she said to me. I nodded, and we ducked outside to witness the most bizarre scene I had ever seen. Two monsters were surrounding Will, but they were unlike anything I had ever seen before.

_What in Hades were those things? _I didn't remember seeing them before, whether in combat or in studies. _Maybe I'm just delirious, or hallucinating again…_

Nope. I looked to my right and saw that Clarisse looked just as baffled as I was. The monsters looked like human pigs, with swords of their own and a crudely crafted wooden shield. Their skin was green, and they also wore red bandannas around their foreheads and leather vests.  
"Um, a little help here?" Will shouted as he parried a swipe from one of the monsters. "I mean, if you just wanna stand there…"

I shrugged, and ran forward to help Will.

Clarisse smirked. "Knew you wouldn't be able to defeat them on your own." She strided forward to help anyways. "You owe me." She clarified, looking Will steadily in the eyes.

Together, we slashed, parried, blocked, and dodged. However, no matter how much times we fought against the monsters, they would push us back. Minutes passed with no one getting the upper hand. Suddenly, Will managed to slice one of the monsters' shield in half, and then Clarisse followed up by slashing the unprotected monster to bits. It vaporized into purple mist.

_That's definitely not normal. _

We glanced at each other, eyebrows raised.

Clarisse shrugged and shook her head. "We'll discuss this weirdness later. We've got monsters to take care of. And besides, I'm dying for more action and challenges."

We nodded in agreement and brandished our weapons. With one last glance at the dissipating purplish mist, we charged towards the other monster.

* * *

**Nike: Yay! We got two reviewers! Thanks to dario flaman and OniHelix for the nice reviews! We will now proceed to answer them!**

**dario flaman**

**Amazing!This is getting good!Looking forward to the next chaptet!**

**Nike: Thanks so much for being the first to review! My thanks probably sounds heartless, but seriously. It meant a lot. Now I'm getting sappy. But sap is for trees, so...THANKS SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! :D**

**Dargon: I like maple sap! Uh, ew, I mean syrup. Uhhh… ANYWAYS, THANKS A LOT FOR REVIEWING! #Awkwardmoments**

**OniHelix**

**Just to go with the whole "God" theme here, Fierce Deity Link. He is literally a god more powerful than Zeus. By a lot. And I feel like Kronos's and Ganaodorf's reactions would be priceless, like,"Wait, WHAT?! That kid can turn into a GOD?! Well that's no fair."**

**Nike: Thanks for reviewing! You're awesome! So, first off, I actually had no idea as to who Fierce Deity Link was, since I don't play LoZ (Dargon: GASP! Sike jk!). If you said sike and then jk, Dargon, doesn't that mean that you're jk-ing the sike, so basically you're saying "I don't mean the sike" so in other words, you mean the GASP! and the sike and jk were unneeded add-ons. To make this more simple, J.K. ROWLING! :D**

**Anyways, Sorry for any OOCness in this fanfic, 'cause all the personalities I learned were from reading various fanfics. Dargon and Twilight are like LoZ masters, they're really into it, so they helped me get into character. :P That aside, after a bit of research on Fierce Deity...I love this idea! Maybe we'll use him! (Hint hint, wink wink.) Nice idea! Very nice idea!**

**Dargon: Fierce Deity is DA MAN! COMPLETELY WHOMPS MAJORA! YAY! MASKS ARE COOL! ZORA LINK! GORON LINK! DEKU LINK! FIERCE DEITY! WILD DEITY! Anju…? WTH?!**

**Nike: Thanks for reading this, folks! Stay tuned for the next chappie! Don't forget to review, favorite, follow, all that good stuff (if this story was worthy enough of your time, of course. :P)! Expect weekly or bi-weekly updates. We don't know what we'll do yet. There's no school tomorrow though, so maybe we'll update again tomorrow if we write quickly enough. This A.N. is too long. I'll stop talking now.**

**Dargon: And I'll keep talking! LOL The Legend of Zelda! Is! So! AWESOME! OKBAI!**


	5. Returning Character

**Warning: HOUSE OF HADES SPOILERS IN HERE!**

**Disclaimer: We like pie. And PJO. And LoZ. But we don't own them. Except for the pie.**

* * *

**-Ganondorf-**

Kronnie, whatever his name is, sure is obsessive over his game. Too bad the victor won't be him. It'll be me. Sure, he might be powerful, and manipulative, but he won't control me. I, Ganondorf, releaser of the five great sins, can never be controlled. Never. I'm going to prove that to Kronnie when the time is right and he suspects nothing. I will betray him. But meanwhile, I shall bid my time.

**=Annabeth=**

"LUKE!" I cried. Bitter feelings of betrayal, confusion, and anger surged through me. And… a touch of joyfulness. Cringeing, I pushed that last thought down. No.

_Luke isn't the same person you used to know. The old Luke used to help you; he was like a brother to you,_ I told myself. He's changed. He's now a cold, heartless murderer willing to sacrifice millions of others for his cause. I glared at Luke. "How?"

Luke sighed, a bit dramatically. "Heroes. They always think they've beaten the 'bad guys'. Is that it, Annabeth? Am I a bad guy to you?"

"Uh, if you've killed dozens of demigods, for the sake of the _titans _and betrayed Hermes, your own _father, _then yeah, I'd consider you a bad guy."

Luke's normally handsome face twisted into a scowl. "Not now, Annie. You mustn't forget that in the end, I was the hero. In the end, I was the one who won the war for you guys."

Valid point. I rapidly searched my mind for a good comeback, and luckily found one without too much trouble. "Well, if you hadn't allowed Kronos to take control over your body, then none of it would've happened."

Luke clucked his tongue. "Now, Annie, the past is the past. You need to let it go."

"So, what you're saying is…"  
"It's not too late to join me now. The three other pesky friends you have travelling with you-" Luke's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Again, you of all people, travelling with two _outsiders_ that aren't necessarily even _human_. I'm surprised."

I shrugged. "Well, I'm also talking to a person who died right before my eyes right now, so I don't think you'd wanna be talking."

Luke brushed the insult off. "Nevertheless, if you join me, we could rule together. Just you and me… like the old times."

"The old times included Thalia, too," I shot. "What about her?"

Luke seemed taken aback from this response. Then he quickly regained his composure and said, "But we don't need her. She's a child of the Big Three, loyal beyond reason to the gods. She's not even supposed to be born, but she gets all the attention and trust anyways. I only need you, Annie. Your smarts combined with my power and fame; we'll make a great appearance to the public."

I snorted. "Please. You're a notorious traitor. No one would ever pledge their allegiance to you."

He smiled. "That's where you come in. You're known as the _girlfriend _of _Percy Jackson_." He spit out Percy's name as if it poisoned his mouth just to say it. "The crowd acknowledges him as their beloved leader. That gives you power over them too. Knowing that Percy loves and trusts you, the crowd follows your orders too. If you join me, then the crowd follows, knowing Percy would give them a whopping if he found out that they showed any signs of distrust towards you."

I smirked. 'Wow, you sure thought this out thoroughly, didn't you? It must've taken you years. Too bad those years of hard thinking will go to a waste. I'm not joining you. My hard answer is 'no'. You can batter me as much as you want, with insults, threats, and compliments. But no matter what, I'll always say 'no'. I'm loyal to Percy and Camp Half-Blood, not some infamous betrayer like you."

Luke sighed. "I had a feeling you would say that. Well, if you're sure that's your final answer… It was nice knowing you, Annie." He suddenly lunged forward, his sword, Backbiter, raised high. My hand went for my dagger, but before I could get there, Luke knocked it out of my hand, sending it clattering a few feet away from me. Now I couldn't try to retrieve the dagger without turning my back on Luke.

Think. Get yourself out of this situation. I tried listing all the possibilities. Make a run for the dagger? I wasn't sure who was faster - Me or Luke. But it may be worth a try. I tensed myself to make a dash for the dagger as soon as an opportunity came up. Instead, I had to dodge as Luke's sword came flashing down again, rolling to the right as the sword crashed into the ground next to me.

Luke calmly walked over to my dagger and picked it up, inspecting it. "I remember when I gave this to you." He smiled, then tossed it into the fog, out of sight. He smiled cruelly. "Little doggie Annie can't fetch it no more, can she?"

I could only stare at him as he raised his sword again. Now weaponless, I was unprotected. I screwed my eyes shut, waiting for the last moment. I'm so pathetic… dying like this...a cowering heap on the ground.

Suddenly, a black shadow whizzed over my head, slicing straight into Luke's chest. He reeled, clutching his chest as blood spurted out between his fingers. My head snapped up to see Midna standing there, holding small black weapons made of shadow.  
Midna smiled and helped me up. "What're you doing?" she asked jokingly. "C'mon, we've got baddies to fight." She opened up her hands, revealing my dagger, and tossed it to me. "You're lucky I found this."

Luke got up, snarling. "So this is one of your impish travelling companions? Pathetic. What other tricks can you do, circus monkey?"

Midna's eyes narrowed. "Well, you'll see in a second." She raised her hands, and glowing blue jagged stones suddenly erupted out of the earth, surrounding Luke in a tight circle.

Luke smirked as he watched the display. "This isn't going to affect m-" He was cut off as I sprang forward, thrusting my dagger forward at the area under his left arm, right next to his underarm. I drove the weapon into that area, causing blood to flow down his back. I yanked my dagger out of his flesh as he turned, hatred glinting in his eyes.

He laughed coldly. "Nice try."  
Wait… What? "Wait… Why aren't you… I thought…" I stammered as Luke grinned at me, still very much alive.

"Well, you see, Annie, that's not my weak point anymore," he sneered. "Pretty attempt, but it'll take more than that to kill me now."

Midna snorted. "We don't exactly have to right now." A glowing portal suddenly appeared behind Luke. Midna's ponytail turned into a gigantic ethereal claw, pushing Luke into the portal. Luke slashed at the hand, but Backbiter simply went straight through Midna's hand. He finally gave up, turning to me, his eyes narrowed. "We shall meet again. But next time, there will be no mercy. Next time, there will -" He was abruptly interrupted as the hand shoved him into the portal. Luke let out a haunting animal wail as the portal sucked him in. Then the portal swirled into the air and vanished.

I stared at the spot where Luke had gone. Behind me, Midna said, "He'll be back. Don't worry about it."

I turned to Midna. "Uh… Thanks…" I didn't know what to say. I knew Midna didn't like me very much, and neither did I for her. But the fact that she had just saved me…

"Hey, don't worry about it," she repeated. She held out her hand. "Truce? I know we both weren't very kind to each other before. But, when I saw you about to be…" She stopped.

"Don't worry about it," I told her, and she laughed.

"I think that phrase was repeated two too many times." She waggled her fingers. "So...can we maybe get along?"

I smiled and shook her hand. She turned it into a fist bump, and we both laughed. "Cheers for getting rid of one more guy for now."  
"Look who's finally made friends!" Someone called behind me, and I turned to see Percy grinning behind me with Link next to him.

"Hey, guys!" I smiled. The fog around us dissipated.

Percy shook his head. "Seriously, Fates? We just seem to be getting one challenge after another. I like that." He added.

"Don't jinx our slight moment of peace!" Link said, shoving him playfully.

"Guys…" Midna trailed off.

Up ahead was a barren landscape, derided of all signs of happiness. The sky was tinted a crimson color, as if someone had spilled blood over it. Jagged black rock sprouted out of the dry, cracked earth. In the distance, you could see rivers gushing around, wails of pain and agony emitting from them. The area swarmed of monsters, giants, and titans alike. The whole place just screamed '_Torture awaits'_.

Link sighed. "Told you not to jinx it."

"Too late now. Too dam late." Percy deadpanned.

I nodded.

This was hell.

And to be more exact, this was…

Tartarus, the place that would destroy you to bits.

Percy and I had already gotten out scathed and almost insane; it had taken us months to repair ourselves. Even now we weren't completely whole. We had been changed drastically by this place.

How had we found ourselves here again?

"Tartarus." Percy muttered, recognizing the place instantly. "The amusement park for a monster's recreation."

**\Midna/**

I had no idea what Tartarus is, but it didn't look good to me. I looked at Link, but he looked just as confused as I was.

"The Kakariko Village elder sent us to Tartarus?!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"What is this place?" Link asked.

"The place where all of the really evil baddies go," Percy explained helpfully.

"Oh." Link's voice grew small.

"Why would the pearl be here?" I asked. Everyone shrugged.

"Well, we gotta find it." Annabeth shook her head. Link pulled out his map. "I don't think a map's gonna be much use in Tartarus," Annabeth said to Link as he looked at the map.

"Well, the elder marked the spot where the haunted valley is," Link said. "So supposedly the pearl was supposed to be there. But then…" He pointed at a spot on the map. "The elder gave us directions on how to find the pearl in Tartarus. It says, _Between the two carved winged statues._"

"Does that mean it was moved?" I asked. We all looked at Annabeth for a confirmation.

She knit her eyebrows together and proceeded to think deeply into the situation. After a while, she said, "No. The elder gave us a map to the haunted valley because it's in Tartarus. Going to the haunted valley would've lead us to Tartarus. And… I think I know where the two carved winged statues might be." She motioned for us to follow her. "I feel like I saw them when Seaweed Brain and I were on our way to close the Doors of Death."

Link shrugged. "Or… if all else fails… we could just consult the map." He pointed to the map, where a red 'X' was marked over two winged statues.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I _know _that I saw the two statues. Trust me."

"Never said I didn't."

We began walking in the direction of the statues.

"Oh, one more thing. Kill any monsters that come at you." Percy said. "And remember; stealth is key."

**Will**

With synchronization, we used our weapons and simultaneously stabbed it in the heart. With one last agonized wail, its eyes rolled into the back of its head, and it fell backwards. Before it touched the ground, it dissolved into the same purplish mist. What weird creature was it? Monsters were supposed to become dust when they died; not mist. Strange… very strange indeed.

Suddenly, a voice appeared in my head. _Will._

_Chiron? _ I recognized the voice immediately.

_Yes. Have you been in combat yet?_

_Yeah. They're strange monsters, though._

Chiron's tone grew worried. _What monsters? Do you remember their appearances?_

Chiron was silent as I described the monsters to him.

He was quiet. Finally, he said, _I fear it is getting too late. Will, Clarisse, and Chris, head back to camp immediately. Don't venture out any further. Abandon search. _

_What? But - _Chiron's presence in my head disappeared. I looked at the others. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah." Chris looked confused. "Abandon… search? But Annabeth and Percy are out there somewhere!"

I shrugged. "Whatever's bothering Chiron, it's bad. We have to go back."

Clarisse shook her head, and we packed up the tent and started the journey back to camp, back the way we came from.

**.:Percy:.**

Tartarus is uncharacteristically quiet for some reason. I had expected everything to jump at us at once like our last trip here. However, nothing had hit us yet.

"Percy?" Annabeth said.

I turned towards her. Her eyes shone with unfallen tears. "Yeah? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering… do you think we'll be able to see Bob again?"

I shrugged. "I hope so. Then I can tell him that the stars say 'hi' back."

She nodded. "I just hope that if we do see him here, his memories haven't returned."

I pursed my lips worriedly, remembering how close Bob was from turning back into the heartless titan he used to be.

"Um… trying not to ruin your moment, but… who's Bob?" Link asked, finding the name quite peculiar. "Is his real name Robert?"

"No. It's Iapetus."

"But… how does Iapetus convert to Bob? They don't connect."

I smiled. "Long story short, he was doused in the River Lethe and lost his memories. I was there at the time, so I convinced him that his name is Bob and he's a good guy. A guy that's on our side."

Annabeth nodded grimly. "But recently, when we came here, we met him again, except he was beginning to redeem his memories. Right before we left, he said that he was choosing his own path, a path that was higher than Iapetus'. He was going to be more than he was before. He would go the way he wanted. We can only hope that the way he wanted to go isn't against us."

After she finished speaking, we heard a series of slow clapping behind us. We froze, and slowly turned around.

"Very nicely thought out." A sickeningly sweet voice said. A gigantic spider even bigger than the Big House back at camp with thick, long hairy legs and multiple skin-crawling tiny eyes was right behind us.

"Arachne…" Annabeth shuddered. From the look on her face, I could tell she had wished they would never have to meet again.

"A SPIDER!" Midna shrieked.

"You can wrangle any kind of monster but get scared of spiders?" Link muttered under his breath.

"Sh...Shut up! I've got a history with them!"

Link snickered. "Carry on…"

Before this became a full-out insult brawl, I decided to cut in. "Hey, um, I think we've got a slight setback to take care of." I said, motioning to Arachne.

"Hey! I am not a minor setback! I am the enemy that will blow you into the heart of Tartarus!"

"Been there, got out of that." I muttered.

Arachne hissed. "You tricked me once, child of Athena, but that won't happen again. I won't fall for the same trick twice."

Annabeth snorted. "I wasn't planning on you to. I've got Percy, Link, and Midna by my side now. We can fight, fair and square."

"What's so fair about four against one?"

"There's nothing fair about having multiple legs and silk. Not to mention your razor sharp pinchers. We may have more in numbers, but you have more in the weapons category."

"True… and you're forgetting one last thing." Arachne flicked a leg, and dozens of mini spiders swarmed towards Annabeth without warning.

Annabeth clenched her fists, the blood draining from her face. We all drew our weapons. Annabeth was the first to strike; despite her fear of spiders, she lunged for the horde of tiny spiders, slashing downwards to take them all out. The spiders were sliced in half, causing a green substance to ooze out. Midna and Annabeth both gagged.

"Go!" I yelled to Link and Midna. "We'll take her out! Distract the smaller spiders from us!" They nodded, and ran off to confront the new army of mini spiders Arachne had just summoned. I turned to Annabeth, grinning. "Ready?"

She nodded tightly. We charged the monster, who had her pincers out to grab us. At the last second before she lashed her pincers out, we both ducked and rolled to opposite sides. I ran to her left flank while Annabeth ran to her right. I dropped to my knees and slashed the four legs on the left side off. Arachne wailed as her left legs were sliced in half and she smashed to the ground, as her right legs couldn't support her weight alone. Another wail from Arachne told me that Annabeth had done the same for the legs on her side. I ran to the front of the spider, Annabeth joining me a few seconds later, and we glared down at the helpless spider.

"Please! I-I'll do anything," Arachne moaned.

"May I have the honors?" Annabeth asked me, her dagger hovering over Arachne's head. Arachne's multiple eyes were cross-eyed as she tried to look at the dagger with all of them.

"Sure," I said.

Annabeth was about to plunge straight into Arachne's head when suddenly Arachne screamed, "FOOLS!" The great spider's body suddenly split into fours, which morphed into four other spiders. The spiders were all different colors: One, an acid green, another, a fiery red, the third one, an icy blue, and the last one, a regular brown the same color Arachne was. The colored spiders formed a protective circle around the regular colored one. In a chorus, the spiders began to laugh, a hissing, grunting sound.

**+Link+**

As Midna and I raced off to confront the army of little spiders, I could see Midna shaking beside me.

"You're usually a very calm person when it comes to monsters," I noted. Midna shook her head. As we reached the front line of the spiders, I took out my boomerang and threw it, slicing the whole rank to bits and pieces. Even so, more spiders were quickly advancing on us.

"You gotta help me," I reminded Midna. "C'mon, I can't do this without you."

"Yeah you can," she muttered, but she steadied herself. A glowing hole suddenly appeared on the ground, sucking the spiders around it into it like a hurricane. A minute later, the hole disappeared, taking the spiders with it. I gave a cheer, and Midna smiled in spite of herself. Soon, we were hacking away at the onslaught of spiders. A few minutes later, they were all gone, either having been vaporized by Midna's shadows or sliced to bits by my sword. I high-fived Midna.

We looked to the side, and saw the most berserk sight ever. Arachne's abdomen had split into four sections, and were performing some ritual that consisted of grunts and hisses.

Percy yelled, "A little help, here?" I looked at Midna, and we dashed towards him and Annabeth.

As soon as we reached them, the spiders stopped their 'ritual' and suddenly attacked. The citrus green spider shot acid at us, while the red one roared plumes of fire and the electric-blue spider shot frozen icicles. We all dodged the attacks, diving in different directions. Over to my left, I saw Annabeth take an experimental stab at the green spider. Her dagger bounced right off of the spider's flesh, as it were steel. As if doing this had caused Annabeth to realize something, she yelled at us, "We can only dodge the colored spiders' attacks! They're invulnerable to our attacks. We have to target on the regular colored spider!"

We all nodded to show that we had heard and focused on the spider in the middle of the group of spiders.

In a flash, we burst forward at the same time. Our target: the brown spider.

**`Jason`**

This quest is so slow-moving. We haven't done anything besides trek towards the good ol' north. Piper kept on casting worried glances in my direction. I don't know why.

My head suddenly began pounding, and I wasn't able to think. I grit my teeth and clenched my hands into fists, continuing to walk, despite the agony my mind was in. I am a child of Jupiter. I will not cave in, no matter how great the pain.

"Jason, if you want us to stop for a little while, we'd be happy to. I can see the pain written plainly across your face."

I shook my head, refusing to give in. When did these headaches begin coming? That's right, they began the moment the quest started. After a moment of teeth grinding and fist clenching, the pain finally subsided, leaving behind a bit of knowledge I was sure wasn't there before. I stopped walking abruptly.

"Jason…?" Piper began.

"The forges. There's something waiting for us at that Cyclops place. You know, the same place we found ourselves in our first quest together? That's the one we need to relocate and go to. There's something there that'll help us find Percy and Annabeth." I said. I didn't know where this piece of information came from; probably from one of my past forgotten memories.

"Dude… you sure about this?" Leo asked, probably wondering how I suddenly knew this random piece of information.

'Leo, I don't know either, but I've got this feeling that we need to go there anyways.' I wanted to tell him. But if I did, they would just shake their heads, and say my source was unreliable; that there could be danger lurking there. I knew that there probably would be danger. Even so, I just _knew _we had to go there to retrieve the item for Percy and Annabeth. Nothing mattered more. So, I looked Leo straight in the eyes, and said, "I'm sure. Trust me, I'm dead positive."

Leo shrugged. "Whatever ya say, Eagle Boy." He grinned.

"Wait…" Piper's eyes widened. "But… that's in Detroit! That's… a bit far for walking, isn't it? And didn't Chiron tell us to not go that far?"  
"He didn't say that. He told us to go north, and come back by a week if we haven't found anything. And I think this is the case for finding something."  
"Well, if we really do go there…" Piper paused. "How're gonna get there? I'm assuming we're not walking?"

"Say no more, Beauty Queen." Leo grinned. "I've got some tools and scraps of metal in handy." He winked. "Just leave it to Uncle Leo."

**| Luke |**

Annabeth and that wretched little imp...they're going to pay. The portal disappeared behind me, leaving me alone to fend for myself in a dark world. I got up and brushed myself off, taking in my surroundings.

_What an interesting place… _I thought as I treaded through a melanoid forest. The land was a black, the ground, plants, everything. It was as if the darkness had swallowed the ground and sky up. I smiled. This was actually pretty calming, with all of the darkness. This is how I wanted the world to be, with no colors. Then we wouldn't have to worry about any of those pesky things mortals did. The darkness was inviting.

Suddenly, a cold voice issued out of the darkness surrounding me. "Who are you?"  
I recognized the tone immediately; the scrawny elf teenager travelling with Annabeth. I turned, expecting to see her green-hatted elfish companion. Instead, I saw something different… and the same. The only difference was that the creature had a dark color in his appearance, almost as if he were made of shadow itself, and his eyes were red, like the color of freshly shed blood.

"Who are _you_?" I countered.

"I asked you first. And I demand to know the answer," The creature hissed.

I smiled. "Luke Castellan, seeking to destroy those pesky four ants on their quest to help two of them escape Hyrule."

The shadow growled. "Are you on Kronos and Ganondorf's side?"  
_Who was Ganondorf? _"As far as I'm concerned, no. And now that I've answered your questions, I'm expecting you to, too. Who are _you_?"

The shadow glared at me with his scarlet-red eyes. "Shadow Link," he finally said.

"And you are…"

"I'm working towards the same goal you are."  
I grinned inwardly. Hmmm… "Would you like to work together, as a team? We are working towards the same goal, as you said."

The pseudo Link's eyes narrowed. "I prefer to work alone. But… I'll make the exception… if you're good enough."

This boy… he was different from all others I've met; serious, independent, and Leader-like. He'd be a dangerous enemy.

"Alright then, we're a team." I cracked a smile, hiring him.

Shadow blinked slowly. "Who said?" Besides Kronos and Percy, this was the only magician I knew who challenged my asking. The people I've known usually did my bidding, fearing for their lives.

"Me." I said, irritated.

Shadow snorted and shook his head. "I like to be in charge, boy. I'm not having a partnership with anyone until I say so. You need to prove yourself first, kid."

I'm pretty sure that I'm older than him. I am _not _going to be ordered around by some child. It wrecks my sense of dignity. "How old are you?"

"200 years old." I was not expecting this.

Restraining myself from sounding shocked, I said, as smoothly as possible, "Well, then."

"Weren't expecting that, were you?" Shadow Link sneered. "Which is why _I_ get to see how good you are."

Shadow paced back and forth, muttering to himself. I caught hints of words like "determined", "brave", and "delirious", but otherwise I had no idea what he was saying. I waited patiently until Shadow stopped pacing and turned to me.

"Sure," was all he said, but it was enough for me. I grinned.

"So, what is this place?" I asked him.

"The Dark World," he responded. "A certain imp - named Midna - banished you here, didn't she?" At my nod, he continued. "This is where everyone who's been banished goes in Hyrule. But I'm surprised you're still in you human form. Everyone else turns into spirits."

"How're you here, then?"

"I'm completely shadow. This is my world. I can't go out in daylight." He turned to look at me. "Though I do know a way out of here. Let's go." He summoned a glowing blue portal, not unlike the one the imp - Midna - used to banish me into this world. He stepped into it, and after a second's hesitation, I followed him through the portal, half excited, and half dreading where the portal was going to lead.

* * *

**Nike: I can't believe it! Twilight was this close *Presses index and thumb together* to staying long enough for us to finish this chappie with her.**

**Dargon: IKR?! And we're back~! Oh, that was too late. Anyways, Twilight says that she's not dead! :D Don't worry, readers, we may be getting to Fierce Deity Link soon! *Hint, hint, wink, wink* Also, in this chappie we weren't sure if Shadow was actually 200 years old, with Link being only 12. But we wanted to surprise Luke, sooooo…:D**

**Note: Percy and Annabeth are nineteen years old in this FF. Sorry we haven't mentioned this before.**

**Dargon: Wow… compare their ages to Link's, and you get… Wow. (Nike: A whopping seven years!)**

******Nike: Review if you want! Flame if needed! **


	6. Information Revealed

**Disclaimer: We no own. That's too bad, isn't it?**

* * *

**=Annabeth=**

I got as close as I could to the group of spiders and tried to stab the brown spider; it was in between the green spider and the red one. However, at the last second, the green spider shot acid at me and I had to leap away to avoid getting mauled. To my right, Link suddenly did a somersault, doing a full 360 as he landed on the brown spider and burying the tip of his sword into the spider's head. The spider wailed as streams of blood gushed out, and Link used its head as a launching pad to backflip back out of the middle of the circle. The red spider, hissing angrily, broke away from the circle and charged after Link. Using this distraction, I charged through the large gap in the circle the red one used to occupy and slashed at the brown spider, causing a gash to open up on its side. The spider howled and cowered in the middle as the blue and green spiders both converged on me.

"Kill the brown one! Now!" I yelled to Percy and Midna. With the brown spider's bodyguards occupied with trying to kill me and Link, the brown spider was left unprotected. I turned and ran, leading the aggravated green and blue spiders away from Percy and Midna. A sudden loud, sickening slash later, the green and blue spiders' multiple eyes went wide, and they collapsed, crumbling into dust. I looked over to see that Percy and Midna had taken care of the brown spider, and the red spider chasing Link was also defeated. Four piles of dust littered the ground.

"Well, that's the last we'll see of her," Percy said, sheathing his sword.

"Yay!" Link cheered, and Midna cracked a smile.

We turned. Behind us were the winged bird statues the elder must've been talking about. In between them was a glowing pearl that flashed red, blue, then green every couple of seconds.

"I'm guessing that's the pearl," I said. We rushed towards it, when suddenly a slight rumbling shook the ground.

"Ugh, not another monster…" Percy began to say, when the statues flanking the pearl came to life, flapping their wings and shifting from left to right.

_Are you the four heroes sent by the elder? _The first bird on the left asked, ruffling its feathers.

"Y-Yes…?" Midna stammered.

"Automatons?" I asked Percy quietly.

He nodded. "I think so."

_You are seeking this pearl, yes? _The bird motioned to the pearl resting beside it.

We all nodded simultaneously.

_This pearl is of utmost importance. I'm terribly sorry, but we can't just give it away. I'm afraid we have to test your courage and fighting skills if you want it._

We looked at each other. Link shrugged. "We've been through worse."

Percy grinned, nodding. Then he turned to the birds and yelled, "Bring it on! Do your worst!"

The second bird seemed to smile. _Show us you what you've got. _The two birds rose up into the air, and nose dived towards Percy.

Percy smiled. "Bring it, bad birdies."

As quick as lightning, the two birds swerved in a different direction in intimidating synchronization. Instead of aiming for Percy, they moved towards Link.

He was expecting it, as he had been pulling out his sword. But one of the birds swerved behind him, striking him on the back and causing him to screech in pain. Blood splattered into the ground, a dark crimson color.

_You need to be alert at all times. The enemy could harm you if you leave yourself open for too long, _One of them told us telepathically.

Link groaned. "Sheesh!" He rubbed his back.

Percy growled. "Hey. That's my friend. People who hurt my friends in any way will pay. Including you." He quickly unsheathed Riptide, taking in out of its pen form. It sprang to life, glowing dimly.

With an upwards thrust, he managed to scratch the bottom of one of the birds with the tip of his sword as it whipped past over his head.

The bird used one of its taloned feet to scratch its scathed underbelly calmly as it flew higher, as if Riptide had merely caused an itch.

_Is that all you can do? My twin tells me that that didn't hurt at all, _The first bird teased.

"We've gotta work together for this," I yelled to the others. "The birds are only beating us because they're working together."

"Well, we can work together too. Let's do this!" Percy fist pumped into the air and turned to the birds. "Guys, give us a moment, please. We're going to devise a battle plan."

_I'm sorry, but in a real battle like this one, you wouldn't be able to create a battle strategy. We're trying to make this as realistic as possible. So no, we will not give you any extra thinking time. _The same bird said.

Something was nagging me… why was it that only one bird talked? It was always the same bird that replied to our questions. Could it be… that one of the birds was like the main bird, as in…

I suddenly face-palmed, causing Link, who was right next to me, to jump. _How did I not notice before?! _"Sorry," I apologized to him as he blushed. Then, I shouted louder so that everyone else could hear me, "TARGET THE BIRD WHO SPEAKS! HE'S THE MAIN BIRD! HURTING THE OTHER BIRD WON'T DO ANYTHING!"  
The birds suddenly snapped up to look at me, surprised that I'd realized their secret. With a caw, they both did a graceful backflip in midair and dove straight at me, their stone eyes glinting maliciously and claws and beaks outstretched towards me. I rolled to the side just as they slashed through the spot in which I was standing only a split second before. Just as the main bird passed by next to me, I swung my dagger in an arc, slicing at the main bird. A chunk of stone fell off it, and the bird squawked in astonishment, pulling itself out of its dive and rising back up into the air. Percy suddenly leaped up behind it while its attention was on me, slashing at its legs. The bird gave a shriek, then fell to the ground with a heavy thump.

A blur shot past me at the fallen stone automaton. Link and Midna. Midna shot shadows from her hands that sliced into the bird, causing purple tendrils of smoke to fizzle among the stone surface and paralyzing it. Following up, Link leaped onto the frozen bird and thrust his sword deep into its chest. The bird flailed around for a bit, cawing weakly; then it went limp. Link yanked his sword back out and stepped away from the bird. The bird was still for a few moments, then a pulsating glow wrapped around it, enveloping it in its light. When the glow subsided, the bird was back to normal, the missing chunk of stone I had cracked off replaced by new stone. The bird flapped its wings and rose into the air, where it circled around our heads with the other bird.

_Impressive, _The second bird spoke. _Quite impressive, with your teamwork and skills. We will rest easy knowing that our pearl, which we have safely guarded over the last hundred years, will be safe in the hands of four true heroes. _The birds came to a halt in midair, spreading their wings, and the pearl descended down to us in a soft beam of light. It was about to fall into my hands when Percy snatched it out of the air, grinning.

I rolled my eyes, but I was laughing. "Seriously?!"

"That was all we had to do?!" Percy whined, pouting slightly. "But I barely did anything! That was boring!"

The birds squawked, as if they were laughing. _Go now. We wish you the most of luck for your quest to succeed. _A shaft of light fell upon us, and we all shielded our eyes to block out the light. When the spots finally faded from my eyes, I opened them to see that we were back in Kakariko Village, with Percy holding the pearl. But all of our troubles weren't over just yet…

"Amazing," A voice murmured. "Getting out of Tartarus that easily…"

I recognized the voice immediately. _No way…_

I spun around. "YOU!" Link and I yelled at the same time.

Luke and Shadow Link were both standing behind us. As if we needed another threat to deal with.

They shrugged.

Luke grinned menacingly. "Miss me? I'm back."

Midna blanched. "B-But how? I sent you to a place where very special magic was needed to get out - magic that you had no chance of knowing."

Luke patted Shadow on the back. "Oh, a friend of mine helped me."

Link stared at Shadow, who walked up to him until they were face-to-face. "This time, I'm not going to let you get out of this unscathed," Shadow hissed.

Link's hands, balled into fist as his sides, were trembling. "S-Stop," he stammered.

"Oh, am I?" Shadow grinned, raising his clawed hands to grasp Link's shoulders with them tightly, his claws digging into his flesh.

Link suddenly yelled out and drew his sword, slashing at Shadow. An earth tremor shook the ground, knocking me to the ground. As I scrambled back to my feet, I saw that Shadow was standing over Link, who was on his knees below him on the ground, raising his own sword above Link's head…

Something behind me suddenly slashed my back open, and I whipped around to see Luke, the edge of his sword tinted with red. I parried his next strike with my dagger, and the fight was on. Percy rushed to my side to help me, and we parried and struck at Luke with all that we had.

"Little hero boy is all talk, isn't he? This is too easy. No challenge at all." Luke grinned, easily dodging our attempts.

"Look who's talking, oldie. You're open." Percy said, gritting his teeth. He slashed at Luke, cutting his thigh.

Luke grunted in pain, and looked up, hatred filling his eyes. "I'm not old. I'm only 25!"

"Most demigods don't make it to 20. Consider it an honor that you lived to such an old age." Percy smirked.

"Again, I'm not old!" Luke growled, and slashed at Percy, who nimbly dodged out of the way, only irritating Luke even more. Luke suddenly leaped to his right, swinging his sword at the same time, and caught Percy in his side. Percy's eyes went wide as he dropped to the ground, blood pooling underneath him. Luke was about to slash downwards at Percy when I blocked his swing with my dagger. As we connected, Luke twisted his blade, causing the tip to slice into my hand and knocking the dagger out of my grip. Again. I cried out and leapt backwards, clutching my hand. Luke kicked my dagger and Riptide, which Percy had dropped, away, sending them skittering out of sight.

"This may have happened before, Annie, and you may have come out of it alive," Luke snarled, "But this time the two of you will end up dead. "

I frantically searched for options in my head and came up with nothing. Suddenly, I spotted the pearl glowing faintly near me which Percy must've also lost his grip on. Without thinking, I snatched it up and pushed it towards Luke, as it something might happen. The pearl suddenly illuminated at my touch. A wide beam of piercing, brilliant white light flashed from the center of the pearl straight into Luke's heart. Luke growled, staring at the light. "Light? How would light -" His eyes suddenly went wide and rolled to the back of his head, showing only pure white. Then he collapsed, shredding into particles. I screamed as I watched him disintegrate, the pieces being sucked up into the beam of light. The light then withdrew back into the pearl, taking Luke's essence with it, and then he was gone. I stared at the pearl as I now knew what it was capable of doing. My hands shook, and I nearly dropped it.

Percy got to his feet shakily, clutching his side. "Nice one," he managed to say, and then his legs buckled underneath him. I lunged forward and caught him.

"Percy! PERCY!" I shook him, but he was out. I looked over to where Link was.

He was fighting hard, keeping up with Shadow's blows with rapid success. However, I could see that his adrenaline was waning, and his resolve to stay conscious leaving him. This battle was probably not going to end well… for us.

**+Link+**

Shadow was going down. I may be on losing at the moment, but I won't allow him to defeat me just yet. Shadow hissed as we fought, blocked, and parried. "We're evenly matched, you know. But I have the darkness on my side." Suddenly, he swung his sword again, and this time, as our blades interlocked, dark energy shot through his sword to mine, causing the tendrils to pierce through my arm. Pain shot up my left side as I switched my sword to my right hand. I wasn't as good with my right as I was with my left, and Shadow knew too, by the way he pressed against me even harder.

"Tired, Link?" Shadow taunted.

I only grit my teeth and pressed back against him, but I knew my energy was fading. Suddenly, Shadow melted into black matter, sinking into the ground. I looked around wildly, alert for when he popped back out. But I was too slow - white-hot pain arced through me as Shadow's sword cut through my left arm. I gasped and stumbled back, looking for Shadow, but he had disappeared again. I took a deep breath.

_Focus…_

I channeled the last of my energy into my senses, training them to the sharpest.

_Focus._

As Shadow erupted out of the ground behind me, silent but stealthy, I didn't know he was there.

But my senses did. I could feel his presence.

Just before Shadow's sword would've cut through my head, I suddenly whipped around, slashing my sword in a great circle. A piercing howl ripped from Shadow's throat as the sword cut right through him. The sword hadn't hurt him, but the light did. We had been dueling in the shade of the houses in the village the whole time, and my spin attack was enough to knock him out into the daylight.

The last thing I saw before the last of my energy left me and I collapsed was his red eyes boring into mine as he disintegrated, clearly stating his undying hatred for me.

_**Leo**_

Uncle Leo's got it covered. "Guys, I'm givin' you two some alone time. A couple of hours or so. Do what you wish, but make sure I'm not watching." When Piper wasn't looking, I winked at Jason.

He rolled his eyes. "Get going, then. The sooner we leave, the better."

"On mah way." I headed towards the forest in search of more scraps of metal. I was quite a bit short - not that I was going to tell them that. Just a few hours was all I needed.

In the forest, I summoned a flicker of fire in my hand to light the dark woods up as I searched for metal scraps. Bingo. About a few yards into the forest, I spotted the mangled remains of a trap, which a monster must've slashed its way out of. I gathered up as much of the scraps as I could and stuffed it into my belt. Then I headed off to work on my newest creation.

***Piper***

We waited for a long time before Leo finally came back. But while he was gone, an uncomfortable silence stretched in between Jason and me. I glanced at him warily. Was there something wrong with him? How had he known to go back to the Cyclops' forges? I was extremely wary of going along with a vision he had. What if it's a trap?

I grimaced and pushed those thoughts aside. No, we had to trust Jason. Even though he had a shaky past, it didn't mean he couldn't change.

Moments later, Leo appeared out of the forest. I relaxed as his presence broke the ice.

"Leo!" I almost cried, earning myself a confused but suspicious look from Jason.

"Hey, built anything?"

"No, not yet. Just went out to collect some metal. Wanted to work here, just to make sure you two didn't do anything too seriously."

"Well, hurry up," Jason rolled his eyes. "We're burning daylight!"  
"Hold your eagles, Eagle Boy. I'm working on it."

"My...eagles?"

"Figure of speech. Catch on, Roman praetor." Leo joked.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Get to work, metal geek."

Leo feigned hurt. "Aw, is that the best insult you can come up with? I thought I rubbed off on you more than this. All of my hard work for nothing. Tsk tsk." Leo clucked his tongue and shook his head.

"Seriously, get to work. I sense that time is running out."

"Alright, alright." Leo put up his hands in mock surrender, and began tinkering with the metal. He turned back around a minute later. "Hey, don't watch me. I get the heebie-jeebies if I have an audience, though I am pretty good."

I rolled my eyes and turned away.

Hours later, I was bored enough to be about to turn to Leo, whether he liked it or not, when Leo called out, "DONE! Voila!" I whipped around to see…

"FESTUS?!" I cried.

"Nope, not Festus. Though, I have to admit, I did make it look pretty similar." Leo wiped his sweaty brow with an oil-covered hand, smearing grease onto his face.

As I peered closer, I saw that he was right. The metallic creature Leo had created looked about the same as our old dragon friend, but was half the size.

"I tried to make it as close to the regular one as possible in the least amount of time," Leo apologized. The dragon tilted its head sideways at me, studying me. Then it opened its mouth and puffed out a column of flame.

"No, it's fine!" I ran up to the dragon.

"All aboard?" Leo asked Jason, who was standing a few ways away from us.

He shrugged. "Sure." Leo grinned and hoisted himself up and onto the dragon, then helped me up as well. Jason walked over to the dragon and swung himself up as well, taking the rear. Leo patted the top of the dragon's head, which creaked and lifted into the sky, beating its metal wings. It caught an updraft of wind quickly, and soon we were shooting across the land.

**.:Percy:.**

I groaned as I opened my eyes. A familiar face hovered over me worriedly, but I couldn't place it for a second. Then, the ringing in my ears subsided and my blurry sight sharpened, and I realized I was looking at Annabeth.

"Do you feel okay?" Annabeth asked. She placed a clammy, shaking hand on my forehead.

"I'm fine," I grunted as I tried to push myself up, but a sharp sting in my side prevented me from doing so. "Did you really… Luke…" I winced.

"I-I didn't know it would do that," Annabeth whispered, her face ashen. "The pearl. That's a terrible way to die…"  
I shook my head. "He deserved to die a second time. I think I'm okay now," I added as I pushed myself up, despite her protests. I realized we were in one of the ruined houses in Kakariko Village. Looking over, I spotted Link, still passed out, shuddering and muttering incoherent words to himself while Midna held a damp cloth to his forehead.

"How long… was I out?" I mumbled.

"A couple of days."

"Days?!" My senses immediately sharpened in alarm, and dizziness overcame me from the sudden change in emotion. I swayed a bit, and Annabeth helped me back down.

"Yes, Seaweed Brain. Days. It's alright. though."

"How?!" I asked, a little too sharply. Annabeth bit her lip. "Sorry, just a little anxious."

She nodded. "Apparently, the pearl slows down time a bit. We didn't notice at first, but then a bird flew by overhead. It seemed to be moving in slow motion. To experiment with the pearl, I had Midna hold it in her hands and stay in place, while I walked with the bird. The bird was so slow, that at times I would have to stop and wait for it to catch up. After I travelled about five miles away, the bird somehow sped up to normal speed. The bird was flying more than five miles high. From that, I concluded that the pearl basically speeds things up for anything within a five mile radius."

I stared. "I'm sorry. What?"

Annabeth glanced at Midna. "A little help?"

She smirked. "Basically what she's saying, is we move faster than the living creatures outside the pearl's five mile radius. So, when we do something, we'd take less time than we would without the pearl."

"Now I'm even more confused."

Midna sighed. "Basically, we take five hours to kill a monster, but compared to the people outside the pearl's radius, we took five minutes."

I nodded slowly. "Mind blown. You've accomplished that."

Midna facepalmed. "You're hopeless. I give up."

Annabeth laughed.

"By the way, where's that elder guy?" I asked. "Didn't he say he would show us where Ganondorf and Kronos were after we got the pearl?"

"Yeah, but he left a map. He wasn't there when we looked for him in the village. Only the map, and a message written on paper that read, 'I am afraid I cannot stay here any longer. Use this to guide you.'" Annabeth shook her head.

Suddenly, a loud groan emitted behind us, and Midna turned to see Link sitting up. "Wha - Ow." He winced. "What happened? Oh, wait…" Link sighed. "Shadow…dang it...I lost?"

"No… Last time I saw him, he was disintegrating." Midna said.

"Wait, so… We don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Precisely."

"Well… I think we should get going, now." Annabeth stood up.

"Where to?" Link asked.

"We're going to finally go and pay Ganondorf and Kronos a little visit."

"'**Travis'"**

"I'm so boooooooooored." My idiot twin brother whined. Scratch that; my _younger _brother whined.

Seeing as though I was the older - and therefore more mature - twin, I decided to "comfort" him. "Shut your mouth, Connie. We'll get our share of action soon enough."

"Yeah, but the greek fire have been in their jars for too long, and the dust bombs are no longer dry enough. I wanna actually _use _them!"

"I'll use them on you if you don't shut up."

"How long have we been walking for?" Conner whined.

"A long time."

Katie laughed at our brotherly exchange. I turned to her, blushing. "Sorry, he's mentally not right in the head," I apologized to her.

"OOOOOOOooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! TRAVIS AND KATIE, SITTING IN A TREE, K - I - S - S - I - N - G!" Conner yelled at the top of his lungs.

"You're quite immature."  
"I know. You aren't mature either."

"At least I was mature enough to _buy_ the chocolate bunnies I used to decorate the Demeter Cabin's roof!"

"You _stole _them."

"Ah, right, so I did. But if I remember correctly, you _didn't help at all._"

"And how is that a valid argument?"

"Guys…" Katie suddenly interrupted us.

Suddenly, Mission Impossible music began to play, giving the atmosphere a more mysterious feel.

"Connor! Seriously. Stop!" Katie said urgently.

Connor nodded sheepishly and refolded the portable radio, turning it off. We continued in blissful silence (for once), trudging east.

The silence was broken after 10 minutes.

"AGH!" Connor yelled. Katie and I whipped around, expecting a monster battle, but instead found Connor standing there, furiously rummaging through his pockets.

I sighed, relieved we weren't facing a horde of monsters, and continued on. "We don't have time for this," I tossed over my shoulder at Connor.

"No, seriously! Wait!"

Sighing again, I turned around. "What?!"

"My radio! It's gone!"

I rolled my eyes. "How can you lose it in 10 minutes?!"

"No, someone took it from me! I know it!"

We heard a sudden cackle to our right and saw a shadowy figure staring at us in the distance, then turned and scampered away.

"That's it! That's the guy who stole it!" Connor yelled. I looked at him, then at Katie. "Excuse me for a sec," I said to her. "You, uh, might wanna wait here." Katie nodded and planted herself where she was. I turned and ran towards the direction the figure went, grabbing my brother's ear and yanking him along with me as I passed him. "OW! What're you doing?!" he demanded.

"We're going to get your stupid radio back. C'mon." We dashed towards the direction of the figure, finding ourselves deep in a forest. Up ahead, we could see the figure darting in and out of sight as it weaved through trees and bushes expertly, while we clumsily crashed through the forest. Finally, the forest gave way to a grassy cliff, where the figure was standing at the edge.

"Give it back!" Connor yelled.

The figure turned, and we gasped when we saw…

A girl. Her hair was long and silky. She had a silver circlet around her head, and a slightly upturned nose on her coppery skin. Her black eyes watched us like volcanic rocks, her gaze hard; as if waiting for an extreme response.

In other words, she was exactly the way we had seen her, before she left camp for her quest, never to return.

"Zoë?"

The girl nodded slightly, an air of royalty around her. "Please, sit. I have word to discuss with you."

**((( Katie )))**

It took a few hours before my patience wore off. I looked around. Where were those two? I decided to follow them, heading off in the direction they had gone. I hope they hadn't gotten themselves into trouble…

I reached a forest. It was a simple forest, with trees, bushes, flowers, that kind of stuff. I knelt down next to a star-shaped blue blossom to inspect it. Hmm. A weed. Common one, so this was just a regular forest. I kept walking until I heard voices.

"But… you're supposed to be… dead…."

"I am. 'Tis a spirit."

"Oh. Riiiiiight."

I followed the sound of the voices until the forest ended, leaving me on a high, grassy cliff. The wind tore at me as I squinted through its sharp coldness to see…

ZOË?

She was sitting down at the very edge of the cliff, with Travis and Connor sitting around her. _Oh, no you don't, Travis..._

I cleared my throat loudly. Travis spun around and blushed a fierce red when he caught sight of me.

"O-Oh, hey Katie. Z-Zoë h-here w-was just t-telling us something k-kinda important." Travis stuttered, ducking his head.

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "But not important enough to require my ears too?"

"W-We were gonna relay i-it to you." Travis' ears were now a bright pink.

"Knowing you two, you'd probably misinterpret Zoë's words, and get everything messed up." I grumbled.

"Ouch, that's harsh."

"Please, listen. I bear terrible news." Zoë said, arms raised in a silencing manner.  
The forest was quiet as we watched her with bated breath, waiting to hear her next words.

**`Jason`**

I squinted as the cold air rushed against us, stinging my eyes. The dragon we were riding on was more unstable than even Festus was, which I could hardly have imagined before, rocking with every shift it made.

"Attention, flight passengers," Leo called over the raging wind. "We're now nearing our next destination, Detroit."

I rolled my eyes as Leo grinned back at us.

"Wanna go for a nosedive landing?" Leo asked.

Piper immediately clutched at the sides of the dragon. "No!" she squeaked.

"Okay then, we won't do a nosedive." Instead, Leo urged the dragon into doing a 360 loop, then a hurtle towards the ground. Right before we crashed into the ground, the dragon spread its wings sharply, catching the wind to soften our would've-been crash into a slight thump, touching down gently.

Piper leaped off of the dragon as soon as it hit the ground, glaring at Leo. "I told you not to -"

"Do a nosedive. And I didn't." Leo grinned at Piper.

"You know what I mean!"

"I do?"

"Shut up!"

"Not in a million years. The world needs to hear more of my melodic voice."

"Seriously, shut your mouth, Geek Grease Geek," I said. "Let's get going."

Leo looked at me, hope filling his eyes.

"No. We won't be seeing Khione."

The hope drained out of Leo, and he visibly deflated. "Yeah, let's go to the land of watchamacallit."

"Ma Gasket won't be there, right?" Piper asked, remembering past experiences.

"Hopefully not. If we do, at least we have Leo's wits on our side."

"YEAH!" Leo punched the air, then rubbed his arm. "Ow. I might've pulled a muscle."

"You know what? Let's just get going."

* * *

As we ducked inside the dark building of the Cyclops' forges, I tensed, listening carefully.

"What's up, Eagle Boy?" Leo asked. "Honing your predatory razor-sharp senses?"

I ignored, him, pausing for a few more minutes. Then I relaxed and let go. "I don't hear or feel any monsters in here, though that could be just me. Do you guys hear anything?"

A pause, then Piper and Leo both shook their heads.

We continued on into the depths of the building, arriving at the same chamber in which Leo had been forced to save Piper and I from becoming monster meat for three Cyclopes. The large fire pit in which we had almost been roasted was still there, but otherwise there was no sign of the Cyclopes.

"So, Eagle Boy, where's this item that'll help us find A and P?" Leo asked.

"A and P?"

Leo stared at me. "Dude. You should know this by now. Annabeth and Percy!"

"Oh. Ha, I knew that! Just seeing what your reaction would be." I said - seriously, of course.

"Sure. Let's get searchin'. Wait… answer my question first! What's this item that'll help us find 'em?"

"I… don't know."

"Dude…"

"Seriously! All I know is that we've got to search for something."

"Sure...anyways, was that there before?" Leo asked, pointing at a circling, swirling purple mas on the wall in front of us.

"I dont think it was…" Piper gulped.

"Um…" Yeah, I know. My response was very unRoman-like. Shame on me.

"I'm...just gonna...pull out my flames." Leo said, lighting his hands on fire.

"Um...good idea." Piper was just about to unsheathe her dagger, when suddenly, a huge - and by huge, I mean _enormous _- obsidian black hand shot out, quickly and stealthily, like a predator darting out to catch its prey.

Not giving us a chance to respond, it quickly located its prey - namely, us - and wrapped its fingers around us, enfulging us in darkness.

"Guys…" Leo said into the neverending darkness.

"Yeah?" Piper asked.

"I...can't turn on my flame." Leo's voice sounded empty, devoid of any emotion, as if he was just stating a simple fact - which he was.

It seemed to have a magical barrier that stopped us from being able to use our demigod powers. It felt like a part of me had been destroyed, and taken away. I felt...free, in a sense. Now, without my powers, I wouldn't have to keep my emotions in check; I would never accidentally zap the Pluto out of someone.

"Um… Jason, clap your hands." Piper said, trying out her charmspeak to see if it worked.

I felt no intention or need to clap my hands. "It's not working."

In a sudden jolt, the hand jerked forward forcefully, and plummeted downwards.

"I think...that my heart just fell to my throat." Piper said, sounding kind of sick.

The hand landed onto something with a soft crunch, and let us go. The sudden brightness made me immediately close my eyes and wait for the sunspots to go away.

_Mortals...complete your mission. _I heard something whisper into my ears. I heard a whoosh of wind, and something flit past. When I opened my eyes again, the hand was gone, leaving no trace of its existence behind.

"Woah…" Leo breathed. "Where are we?"

Ahead of us was an endless field of yellow wheat that seemed to stretch on and on.

"Woah is right. Now, how are we going to get home?" I challenged.

"Dude, I like that you're asking me for answers, but please don't overestimate me. I don't hold all the answers to the universe."

"I haven't noticed." I said sarcastically.

"Ouch, that's harsh."

"Good question, Jason. How _are _we going to return?" Piper mused, speaking for the first time since we entered this unknown landscape.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go; continue travelling north." I said, motioning for them to follow me.

"Dangit! Festus II wasn't brought with us! All that hard work! Bam! Gone with the wind! One day I will get even with you, hand." Leo said, his voice hard as steel, glaring in the direction the hand had disappeared into.

"Yeah. It's too bad. Let's get going. We've got to complete the mission the hand had told us about."

"_What _mission?"

Que another shrug. I seemed to be doing that a lot, lately - I don't like that. "I don't know. Let's just get going."

Leo, sensing my frustration and confusion, wisely shut his mouth, and followed me. Piper took the rear. This was probably going to be a long trek north, with no destination in plan. We would just have to face whatever comes at us, for we are demigods. Unbeatable ones, at that. We would overcome as many hardships as necessary, for the sake of Percy and Annabeth. I would endure the headaches that would come, and salvage any information I could get.

Every last bit.

Come at me, unknown land and creatures. I was once the praetor of Camp Jupiter. I - ahem, we - could handle everything and anything. We would win.

**^Nico^**

We had been camping in various forests for days now; everything about this quest is so uneventful. Yawn. I think I might be losing my sarcasm. What a scary thought.

"Nico… your turn to guard camp." Hazel whispered, yawning as she crawled back into the tent.

I climbed out of my sleeping bag slowly, groaning, grumbling, and complaining the whole time.

"Woah, um… if you want, I can take watch again."

I groaned. "I'm being grumpy, k'? I'll take next watch."

I shuffled to my feet and looked up. The moon was still up, shining cheerfully. Too cheerfully. Ew. I groaned again and staggered outside. Choosing a tree stump near the front of the tent, I plopped down onto it and stared at the tent.

And stared.

And stared.

My eyes were just beginning to droop, when I saw the air move slightly in front of me.

_Tired, boy? _A voice sneered in my head.

_Who…? _Oh. Of course. My old man.

_I think you would know, of all people._

_What do you want?_

_I am afraid I have to ask you a little… ah, favor. As you DON'T know, The Doors of Death have been opened again. Without mine or Thanatos's consent, I might add._

I gasped. The Doors of Death…? Opened _again_?! Without Percy and Annabeth to help us, we're screwed.

_Surprised, huh? Well, my favor is that you must help close the Doors._

_Again?!_

_Yes, again. Though you may not know it, Percy and Annabeth are on the hunt to defeat Kronos, who was the opener of the Doors in the first place._

_So why do you need me to help?  
I am not letting that sea otter-son of Poseidon's steal the fame. _

I rolled my eyes. _So _that's _what you're getting at?_

Hades paused. _Well, yes. What did you think I did it for? For the good of the world? Hah! As if._

_ So, how_ do_ you want me to help?_

_ I am going to send you and your little 'group' to the place where Percy and Annabeth are now. Join them, and let the offspring of Hades have some glory and fame, for once._

_ …_

_ What?_

_ Nothing. I'll do it._ As soon as I thought those words, a purple, glowing portal in the ground swirled into existence, pulsing. Suddenly, a large black mass shot out, quickly forming into a hand. It stretched until the hand was in the tent. I heard a loud commotion coming from inside of it as Frank swore and Hazel shrieked, and then the hand came back out, its fingers curled into a fist. It hovered over me for a few seconds, then the hand uncurled quickly enough to grab me in its hand without letting go of Frank and Hazel, who were struggling inside.

I closed my eyes as the darkness swallowed me up.

* * *

**Nike: Woah, Jason. Epic, much? XD Guys...this was our longest chappie yet. 6221 words! :O AND TWILIGHT'S HERE! SHE CAN FINALLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE A.N.!**

**DARGON: OMG SHE'S FINALLY HERE! SAY HI, GUYSES~! SO EXCITED "DARGON" IS CAPITALIZED! SAY HI, TWILIGHT~!**

**Twilight: Uhhhh…..soooooooo tiiiiired. …..? Oh. HI PEOPLE! A'HOY SM**All fries**...zzzzzzzzzzz **

**Nike: SHE AIN'T DEAD! STILL ALIVE AND WRITIN'! :D **

**Dargon: *Cough* WIND WAKER IS BETTER *Cough***

**Twilight: *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.* *ten hours later….* WHAT?! NOOOOOOO! Skyward Sword is BETTER!**

**Nike: *Not a part of this* Review with your opinion! But, we all know that PJO IS WAAAAY BETTER THAN LOZ CAN EVER BE! :D**

**Twilight: PJO as in peanut jelly otters…?**

**Nike: *Gasp* YOU DON'T KNOW?! IT'S PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS! **

**Twilight: oops, SOR**R**y…..****uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh...I…..I…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.**

**Dargon: I would start a full-blown fight about whether LoZ or PJO is better now, but I'm gonna save it for later. :D**

**1) Yay!Cookie!*Eats the cookie*Yummy!Now..LUKE IS ALIVE?! HERE TOO?!AND SHADOW LINK TRIED TO KILL PERCY?!Woooww!This is getting more and more interesting!Gonna read the next!:D**

**2) ****Oh Wow!Luke and Shadow Link..a team?!Cool!And,Darn that Arachne..and..Tartarus in Hyrule?What's going on with these worlds?XD**

**Great Chapter like always!:D**

**Dargon: Thank you so much for being like the first one to review whenever we post a chapter! :D Thanks for reviewing! We're glad you like our plot! (::)**

**Nike: We're sorta making it up as we go along, so sorry if things don't match up. XD Thanks! Cookie! (::) **

**Quick question, guys. Based on our writing, how old do you think we are? (Friend told me to ask this; wanted to see results.)**


	7. Teaming Up

**Disclaimer: Just this crossover fic is ours to own. *Sighs dejectedly***

* * *

***Piper***

"Jason, do you know where we're going, really…?" I asked, slouching as Leo and I followed Jason over the vast expanse of grassy fields. We had been walking for hours upon end, yet Jason didn't show any signs of tiredness as he continued marching, his eyes determined, and jaw set.

"No," he admitted. "But I've got a gut feeling that we'll run into something helpful if we continue walking north."

"Why are we trusting your gut feeling?" Leo asked jokingly. "I mean, I don't know whether it was a good thing or not that the hand dropped us here, wherever this place is."

We looked up as thunder rumbled, and then suddenly rain was pouring down on our heads.

Leo blinked. "Did I just jinx us, in some way?"

Ominous, purple-black clouds began to form in the sky, writhing as they swirled around.

"Yeah, I think so," Leo confirmed. "That doesn't look too good."

"Gee, I wonder what made you think that." I said sarcastically.

"Well, for one thing, the sky is all inky and ugly. The clouds are swirling in an ominous way, which from past experiences tells me that a tornado might be spawned. Also-"

"Leo, it's called sarcasm." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh." Leo shut his mouth, only to reopen it again. Is there an off-switch on him? "I knew that."

"Sureeeee."

"Hey, is it sarcasm if I say a tornado's coming our way?"

"Stop it, Leo," Jason said, rolling his eyes.

"No, really. Turn around."

"I'm not buying it." Jason remained stubborn.

I turned around and gasped. A cyclone of twisting, whipping winds were headed our way, the winds an unnaturally purple color - heck, you shouldn't even be able to see wind in the first place - and churning towards us, ripping across the ground as it came closer and closer.

"Uh, Jason -"

"What?" He turned around, and then he saw it. "Oh. My. GODS OF OLYMPUS THIS IS ANNOYING!" he cried, shouting out in rage.

"Take a chill pill, man," Leo said, slightly scared.

The cyclone hurled itself at us, and we braced for the impact. But, miraculously, the cyclone stopped in front of us. Its winds continued to howl, whipping around in a rage. The cyclone hovered for a few moments, as we stared at it, unable to properly process what was happening. Then, the purplish winds died down, and all grew calm…

And three figures dropped from where the center of the tornado used to be.  
Nico staggered to his feet, apologizing to the others. "How was I supposed to know he was going to transport us that way?! You know how -"

"NICO?" I stared, my eyes practically popping out of my head. "H-How did you -"

"There was a big hand -" Frank started to say.

" - Pulled us into a portal -" Hazel interrupted.

" - Apparently, Hades wanted us to -"

" - Percy and Annabeth around -"

"One at a time!" I yelled. "Nico, what happened?"

"Giant hand, teleported us here. Though a portal. My dad wanted us to find P and A. That's all there is to it."

"P and A?" Jason asked, confused.

Leo stared at him. "We had this discussion already -"

"I'm joking, okay?"

"Wait, hold on! A giant hand and portal…? From Hades?" I asked. Hazel and Frank nodded.

"Why?" Nico asked.

I shook my head, bewildered. "That's how we got here too. But Hades didn't talk to us or anything…"

"D'you think he had something to do with it?"

"Who KNOWS?! But why would… I bet it's not some sort of coincidence that you guys came here the same way we did, by _Hades's_ guidance."

"So, what is it, then?" Frank asked.

I sighed. "I have no idea."

Jason cleared his throat loudly. "Well, we need to get going to find… uh, A and P."

"Which way?"

"North. That's the way we were directed to go at first."

"That's not fair! We were going west! Why do you get to choose which way we go?!" Nico demanded.

Jason sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine. Compromise: Let's go northwest."

"Finally, sheesh. Took you long enough."

**=Annabeth=**

We had been walking for hours, waiting to find the next landmark that would help us keep on track. One thought, ringing clearly through my mind kept me going: Kronos and Ganondorf - whoever he might be - are going down.

Percy walked next to me, singing random tunes to help the time pass by. "Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. Dumbledore!"

I glanced in his direction. "Sometimes, I worry about your mental health."

"Hey! But I was only doing it to-"

"Pass time, I know."

"Then why do you worry?"

I sighed. This conversation was going nowhere. "Nevermind. Continue singing."

Percy smiled, looking victorious, and continued singing. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star…"

Midna groaned. "This is too cheerful, while we're going to confront the two greatest enemies out there, and possibly die."  
We all relapsed into silence as she let that good thought sink in. Then, a few seconds later, Percy started singing again. "D'you wanna build a snowwwwmannnnnn…"

"And I thought that would work." Midna crossed her arms and sighed.

We walked on in (slight) silence, with Percy's tunes accompanying us. The music that made our trek all that much more dramatic. Finally, five minutes later, Percy ceased his singing, looking around uncomfortably.

"What now, Seaweed Brain?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Is someone following us?" Percy cast another glance around us. "I feel like someone's tailing us…"

I started feeling wary as well. You always had to trust demigod instincts.

"Well, tell us before they decide to attack us," Midna joked, but it was half-heartedly as she began to look over her shoulder.

"Suspense," Link announced. "Dun dun DUN!"

"Shhh!"

"Fineee…"  
We started to resume our journey when a large tangle of bushes nearby suddenly rustled, causing us to jump. We stared at it, slowly drawing our weapons out, as one single stray leaf fluttered to the grass from the bush's branches.

Then…

"SURPRISE!" Leo yelled as he bounded out, shaking leaves from his hair and grinning from ear to ear.

"Leo, you weren't supposed to do that!" Piper hissed as she came out as well.

"Pay more attention to the plan next time, Grease Boy." Jason rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe we found you guys!" Hazel interrupted.

"How'd you get here?" Frank asked.

Percy looked at them, then at me. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes. He looked back at the group, as if checking they were still there, then mouthed to me, _Am I seeing things?_

"W-Wha… HOW'D YOU GUYS GET HERE?" I yelped. "This isn't Camp Half-Blood!"

"We know." Nico rolled his eyes.

"So, how'd you get here?!"

"Chiron sent out search parties to find you guys. While we were searching, my dad told me to help you guys defeat Kronnie and sent us here."

"But… This is _Hyrule_!" Baffled, Percy looked to me for a possible explanation, though I had none.

"Who are these guys?!" Midna yelled. "This is NOT a party!"

"Party? Did someone say party?!" Leo jumped up and down hyperly. Quickly, he whipped out a metal remote and punched a few buttons. Streamers of all colors randomly flew through the air. Tables unfolded themselves, preset with utensils, plates, cake, cookies, and pie. Lots and lots of pie. "I've got pecan, cookie dough, strawberry, pumpkin…" Leo rattled off flavors while automatons placed party hats onto everyone's heads.

While everyone crowded around the tables, I turned to Percy. "Hades sent them here?! How, if the connections for travelling in between places was cut off?"

Percy shrugged helplessly. "I don't know! But… at least we have more people to fight with us. We're going to need all the help we can get in fighting Kronnie and that Ganondorf guy."

I thought for a bit. "True…"

Percy put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Look, don't worry about it. Now we have a greater chance to whomp those baddies, and we can figure out all of the extra information out afterwards, or maybe even possibly while we're at it."

I smiled. "True that. Let's just get everyone's attention." I turned to the crowd clustered around the tables and cleared my throat. Everyone turned, their mouths stuffed with sweets. Sighing, I rolled my eyes and began. "So, I know we all came here the same way -"

"Chocolate pie? I don't think -" Leo started to say, scratching his head, but I cut him off.

"Give me a few seconds, please? Well, I know we all came here this way, and I don't know how that would be possible, but to get back, we have to work together to defeat Kronos and… uh… who's that other guy?"

Midna rolled her eyes and stepped up. "Ganondorf, the Prince of Darkness," she announced, every eye turning to her. "He's the main baddie here in Hyrule, like your Kronos or whoever the heck he is."

"Yeah. So, they're apparently decided to team up. How Kronos managed to get here, I don't know about that either. But we're demigods! We were born to take down baddies!" I raised a fist in the air, and everyone cheered. "We may not have the information about everything yet, but if there's baddies in our way, we can work together to take them DOWN!"

"Whoa," Percy mumbled beside me. "Uh, excited, much?"

I rolled my eyes. "As if I couldn't talk to a crowd. I had to get them riveted."

Percy grinned. "Reminds me of myself during the battle of Manhattan."

I smiled, allowing the memory of Percy getting the demigods of Camp Half-Blood riveted for the battle against Kronos flow through me.

"So, captain, where do we go?" Nico asked sarcastically.

Link opened up his map. "They're hiding out on Death Mountain, due exactly northwest."

"Hey, that's the direction we were walking in earlier!"

Link shrugged. "It's not a long way away, so we should be able to get there by nightfall."

Everyone finished off of the snacks on the tables, and then Leo packed up everything with a press of a button. We then began the journey to face Kronos and Ganondorf, just our little party of ten. Whether we had a good chance of winning or not was unclear, but we held our heads high and hoped for the best.

**Kronos**

My, my. The little demigods have teamed up. I'm shaking with fright.

"Kronnie, the demigods are gaining on us." Ganondorf observed.

"I will allow them to arrive here safely. I would like to kill them myself, mercilessly. Ah, my revenge will be so sweet." I smirked.

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry…_ your_ revenge? We're working as a team."

I grinned. Ah, how innocent my sidekick - I mean, ally - could be. The time was drawing near, when my real plan would take place - and dear Ganondorf would not take a part in it. But I only had to wait just a tad bit more. "Yes, of course I meant you too," I said smoothly. "Don't worry, we'll send them crying to their deathbeds."

Ganondorf glanced at me suspiciously, but he cracked his knuckles menacingly and drew his two long swords. "We'll be ready for them when they come."

**← Clarisse →**

We finally returned to Camp Half-Blood after days of uneventful trekking.

"Why do you think Chiron wanted us to return? I mean, it hasn't even been a week yet, let alone two!" I said in exasperation. "For all we know, we could've been really close to finally finding them!"

We walked through the border and into camp. Will shrugged. "Dunno. We'll find out when we reach the Big House."

"Actually, we won't have to go to the Big House. Chiron's already heading our way." Chris said, pointing to the centaur's trotting silhouette.

"Welcome back. I have some urgent manner to discuss. As you know -" he began, only to be cut off by Yours Truly.

"Yeah, yeah. We know. Cut to the chase, already."

Chiron gave me a disapproving shake of his head before continuing. "Manners, Clarisse. As you know, I have called you here to discuss a very vital matter. Ganondorf has released the five great sins: Vaati, Veran, Majora, Ghirahim, and Twinrova."

Wonderful. More wacko language I can't understand. "I'm sorry, what?"

Chris looked as equally confused. "Ganondork…who?"

Chiron sighed. "I will explain, don't worry. But be prepared to listen for a while." With that, he began to speak. "Once, there was the plentiful golden land of Hyrule…"

**ֆ****Third Person****ֆ**

Little did they know that while they listened to Chiron, Katie, Travis, and Connor were listening to the same thing from Zoë.

**¡Connor!**

"And that's why we need to catch and defeat the five sins." Zoë concluded, her black volcanic eyes filled with a magmatic substance called worry.

"So… it's not just this Ganondorf guy that has to be defeated?" I asked.

"Even if it were so, the five great sins would live on without him, and carry on his deeds of evil."

"Wait, but… why us?" Travis asked. "Why demigods? I mean, Ganondorf and the five great sins are all in Hyrule, not here. Isn't there like a hero over there in Hyrule that can defeat them himself or herself?"

Zoe nodded. "As a matter of fact, there is. But something strange has happened. The two places, Hyrule and here in Camp Half-Blood, are beginning to mix. I do not know why, but it is now our shared responsibility to help the hero over in Hyrule defeat Ganondorf and the five sins… also because Kronos has now joined their ranks."

"That's like seven guys we have to defeat!" I complained. "C'mon!"

"So, you're saying currently Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Nico, Frank, Annabeth, Percy, and this "Link and Midna" you talk about are already in Hyrule?" Katie asked.

Zoe nodded. "Though they have a team of ten, I fear these enemies will be too much. They need a much help as they can possibly get."

"I'm in," Travis immediately announced.

"Hey, me too!" I said, and Katie nodded in agreement. "Uh, so, how do we get there?"

Zoe smiled. "I shall send thee there. It may be better to close thy eyes."

"Close my eyes…?" A bright flash burst directly into my eyes, sending my vision reeling. "Oh...yeah, that might be a good idea." I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself as more bright flashes popped before my close eyelids.

"I gravelly apologize for this. I must ensure that thou art ready for this journey." Zoë apologized. "My light reports that thou art prepared. Ready?"

The three of us opened our eyes and nodded. Zoë muttered something in Ancient Greek, and raised her arms above her head, as if summoning something. Suddenly, the world around us began spinning; my thoughts and surroundings began whirling together, molding into one, until I couldn't tell the difference between real and imaginary.

"Whoah," I tried to say, but my voice was ripped away by the pressure. Instead, I shut my eyes. Moments later, when I somehow could tell the feeling had passed, I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was Percy and Annabeth right in front of me.

Annabeth sighed. "Now we have sixteen people to fight them. And honestly, I thought ten was enough. Well, it's a good thing we have more people. Safety in numbers is probably what we should be going for now."

"Sixteen? Thirteen, I thought," I looked around, trying to see if there were three extra people around in the crowd.

"Yeah. Chris, Clarisse, and Will just came a few minutes before you guys did," Percy explained.

"Let's just hope it's enough," Annabeth murmured, her eyebrows knit into a sign of worry.

"Don't worry," Percy said.

"I try not to."

"I don't know everyone…" I said, looking at two impish people.

"Ah, right. Everyone, this is Link and Midna. Our travelling companions." Annabeth said, gesturing to the girl and boy with pointy ears. We all nodded and exchanged greetings. Annabeth introduced all of us to the two of them, and we were all set.

"Well, shouldn't we get going now?" Travis asked.

Annabeth nodded. "All of the search parties are here, right?"

"Yeah. It was four parties, three people in each group, and all trios going in a different cardinal direction."

"Okay, then. Let's go northwest."

**← Clarisse →**

Something was up. We had been walking for hours - I'm sure of it - and yet the sun has barely moved an inch. I wondered if the sun was just wonky in Hyrule, or if it was just me.

"Is it just me, or the sun…?" I asked.

Percy grinned. "Oh, yeah. Sorry for forgetting to tell you. We got this pearl that supposedly can help us defeat the bad guys, and it freezes time around us."

"In a five-mile radius," Annabeth corrected, coming up beside him.

He rolled his eyes. "Yesh. Some properties that I still don't understand."

I smirked. "A little slow in the head then, yeah?"

He punched me in the shoulder playfully.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you wanna go?"

Annabeth coughed. "Let's not, please."

Deep breath, Clarisse. Deep breath. I forced a smile on.

"Hey, Clarisse, you okay? Your face looks like it might crack at any second." Chris muttered, sounding worried.

I glared at him. "Watch it, punk."

He shrunk under my gaze. "Heh, sorry. Just worried for your health."

I sighed. "Well, I'm fine."

Will joined us. "Calm down, will you?" he asked. "C'mon, we're having a joyful walk to the evil lair of seven baddies."

I shot him another glare and he grinned cockily.

"Seven bad guys? But how…?" Connor asked, counting on his fingers. "Oh. _Oh. _Heh, I knew that."

"We have to defeat them ALL?" Nico huffed in exasperation. "This'll take FOREVER. I mean, it's not like I can take my sword and defeat them in one blow!"

"That's what you did last time." Hazel pointed out.

"Exactly why I used it as a reference."

"That makes no logical sense." Annabeth remarked.

"Exactly."

I rolled my eyes. "So, are you gonna tell us how the pearl works, or…"

"That's it." Percy shrugged. "I dunno."

"My, how helpful."

"This is very unorganized," Hazel stated. "We have thirteen people to take care of. We can easily get separated."

"Which is why we're trying our best to stick together." Jason rolled his eyes.

"How much farther to the… the… wherever they are?" Leo asked Link, who was holding his map out in front of him as they walked.

"Not far. Like, maybe a couple of days more?"

"'Not far', huh?"

"Just kidding. I think about around half an hour."

"Well, at least that's_ slightly_ better." Leo sighed. "ADHD ain't a fun thing, ya know."

"_'Isn't'_, not 'ain't'," A voice called from somewhere in the crowd.

"I knew that, Annabeth!" Leo rolled his eyes.

"So, what's this ADHD and dyslexia you guys keep talking about?" Link asked.

"It's a disability that restrains us from being able to read english and keeps us from being able to stay in one place without moving." Prissy said simply. Typical.

"Think positive, Seaweed Brain. ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactive disorder. We were diagnosed with it because as demigods, our natural instincts and reflexes are much sharper than the average mortal. Most of us have dyslexia because our brains were trained to read Ancient Greek - or Latin - and not english." Annabeth corrected, wordilly, of course.

"Oh. Well, the only things you get around here is OCD." Link frowned. "There's a lot of things you can get."

"Mindblown. I'm confuzzled." Leo said, tinkering with a few scraps of metal and obviously not paying attention.

"That's only 'cause you didn't listen, o' smart one." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Did you just call me...smart?" Leo wiped away fake tears. "I am touched. So very touched."

I snorted, and muttered, "Stupid and shallow."

Leo grinned and resumed tinkering, the strange lump of metal in his hands beginning to look like a cross of a helicopter and a wind-up toy.

It took a long time before anyone else said something. Finally, Jason decided to break the silence. "I would still like to know how the pearl works." Jason said, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Okay, so, the pearl speeds up everything inside a five mile radius. So right now, if someone were to see us, and they were more than five miles away from us, we would be moving in fast-motion to them. In proportional standards, on minute outside is equivalent to one second for us." Midna explained the pearl's technical details.

Piper nodded. "Thanks. That explains a lot."

Suddenly, Link called out. "Hey, I… uh, we're here!"

The group stopped their journey and looked up to see a towering mountain above them, its surface crusted with red and black. The mountain's mouth at the peak spewed splashes of lava and billowing, black smoke, which rose high into the air.

"I'm guessing that's Death Mountain, but please tell me I'm wrong," Leo squeaked.

Midna shook her head. "Sorry. No such luck."

"Wow. I'm right."

"That's a first." Percy joked.

"Oh, and don't tell me the baddies set up camp INSIDE of the mountain, in all of its flaming glory?"

"Don't hafta tell you. You said it yourself."

"Ooooooooh I was right. Again! Instant one up!" Leo did a small fist pump. "Yessss!"

"Nice job, man." Percy patted Leo's back in a congratulatory style.

"Thanks!"

"Guys, don't look now, but I think we are being watched." Frank said, eyeing something on top of the mountain wearily. Instantly, everyone's gaze shifted upwards. Standing there was an impish figure a purple tint to his skin. His hair was purple, and he wore a triangular violet hat to match. His scarlet red eyes were fixated on us. Yes, just my kind of baddie to defeat. This was gonna be fun.

"Yeah. Can someone call the police? We've got some bad guys to throw into jail." Nico said, joking lightly.

"Jail won't restrain them." Hazel said seriously.

"It's called...you know what? I don't even care anymore."

"Alright. I suggest we get going if we want to defeat everyone. First stop, the demon who's eyeing us right now." Annabeth said, clapping her hands together in a way that said, 'Let's do this!'.

"Vaati. His name is Vaati." Link said, looking at the purple figure, horrified. "I've fought him before."

"Well, you know what they say! History repeats itself, and if you defeated him last time, you'll defeat him again! Let's go!" Midna said, uncharacteristically cheerful, clapping Link on the back.

"Ugh, that was the last thing I needed."

We turned back to the figure, steeling our nerves (besides me. I was _born _ready).

The figure descended down, hovering in the air as it glared at us. "Fools. Do you even know who you're dealing with?"

"Uh, yeah, last time I checked, you were Vaati," Link muttered.

"ENOUGH! You dare challenge me?! Well, you're about to reconsider that!" Vaati snapped his fingers, and suddenly four more great figures rose from behind him, spreading out and creating a circle in the air around the heroes.

Leo coughed. "We didn't challenge you. You came down and challenged us while saying that we challenged you, all the while changing the truth behind your words and...what?"

I turned in a circle, looking at all of our enemies. I saw something that looked like a mask, though it looked very much alive, two witches, one with a flaming red crown, the other with an electric-blue one, a dude with pure white skin and a flop of white hair covering one eye, and a tall woman with a cap on her head that curled to her side.

"The five great sins." Link muttered. "Of course they had to attack at a time like this." Then, he raised his voice volume. "I thought you guys were sealed away?"

The purple guy - Vaati - shrugged. "Yeah, but Lord Ganondorf had the honors of releasing us once more." He grinned wickedly. "You guys are our first target. Lucky you."

"I feel quite honored," Nico muttered.

Vaati's eyes narrowed. "Enough talk. No reason to delay the inevitable. You're DEAD."  
"I feel very much alive. You won't be saying the same once we're done with you." I said confidently.

The five enemies around us growled and suddenly lunged for us, drawing whatever weapons they had at their disposal.

"Split up!" Annabeth yelled as we all dodged to the side to avoid their attack. "There's sixteen of us and five of them! Have at least three people in a group fighting each one of them!"

Somehow, I found myself, once again, in a group with Will and Chris as we pressed against the mask-like monster.

"Well, who're you?" I asked.  
The mask hissed. "I am Majora, if it would please you to know before you die."

"It would please me greatly, as I would like to know who I will be defeating."

"I am afraid you won't live long enough to do so." The mask's eyes suddenly shone a bright white, and we all ducked as beams of pure energy shot past our heads, connecting with the ground and carving deep trenches into the earth.

"Take a chill pill, man!" Will yelled as he nocked two arrows to his bow, aiming it at the beast. The mask whipped around to face him, its eyes shining white again. Before it could quite fry Will to a crisp, I leapt up at the monster, slashing at it with my sword. As the mask reeled back in surprise, a large gash mutating its features, Will managed to get a clear shot at it and fired, two arrows with their points on fire stabbing straight through the mask. Majora burst into flames, tumbling out of the air and crashing on the ground. The mask let out a slow laugh as it crackled, and then it shriveled into ash.

"Too easy!" Chris taunted.

I motioned to another battle going on nearby, with Frank, Hazel, and Nico battling the woman with the curly cap. "Well, never mind about that now! We have to help the others!"

Chris and Will nodded, grinning, and we jumped right back into the heat of battle.

One down, four to go.

**\Midna/**

I glared up at the hovering figure of Vaati. "I'm not letting you go again this time, rat!" I shot two curved shadows from my hands, but Vaati easily sidestepped the attack.

Vaati chuckled. "Oh, you will… when I'm done with you."

Link, Annabeth, Percy, and I were facing off against him, and it seemed like Vaati was going for the trash-talking move.

"You hide how much of a coward you really are with your insults," I snarled.

Vaati raised an eyebrow, mimicking elegance. "Oh, I am not insulting. I am stating the truth. Midna, I thought you were smart enough to know the difference between the two. Looks like I was wrong."

I grit my teeth, looking sideways at the others. _I'll distract him. Go around to the side and surround him, then attack._

When I saw the others give a quick nod, I turned my attention back to Vaati. "So, how's being alive for only a few more seconds holding up for you? Good? Great?"

Vaati snarled. "You act tough, but you're only an imp, Midna."

"An imp…?" Black shadows suddenly erupted out of the ground around Vaati, causing him to flinch the tiniest bit, then sank back under. "Yeah. That's what I thought. Can an _imp_ do that?"

"No." he admitted. I smirked, feeling slightly victorious. "But netherless, you are committed to helping these foolish heroes. I thought you were a creature of the darkness?"

That certainly struck a chord. "Destiny isn't planned out the day you're born. I chose my path. I chose it wisely. Can't say the same for you."

"You little -" Vaati started to growl, but was quickly cut short as Percy, Annabeth, and Link, who had been surrounding him in a circle, suddenly jumped him. "What the-"

Percy slashed through his cape, cutting his back. Crimson red blood leaked out, soaking his clothes. The cloth began to stick to him, pulled in by the sticky blood. Vaati visibly winced, and said, "Ha, I can handle this. This is nothing."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Then I'm sure you'll be able to handle this." She used her dagger to cut even deeper into his back wound. Vaati grimaced, and bit his lip to keep in a scream.

Link smirked. "Not used to having to act so weak, eh?"

Vaati only shook his head and smiled. "Good thing I have backup then." He raised his head and howled. In the distance, thundering hooves steps could be heard. "Be brave, you guys. Certain death awaits."

* * *

** Nike: We had some serious trouble in completing this chappie (Dargon: BAD CASE OF WB!). It was extremely hard to reach 4000 words. But...we ended up doing almost 5000! Yay!**

**Dargon: I like pie. And eat dinner at 4:30. Nike eats around 10 or something. I think we eat too early and late.**

**Nike: No, Dargon just eats too early. I'm normal. Is eating at ten normal? I don't think so...**

**Dargon: I disagree with your statement, because… aw, screwit. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! THANKS TO ALL OF OUR READERS AND REVIEWERS SO FAR FOR READING AND REVIEWING! Please review on storyline, plot suggestions, writing, and/or questions! THANKS :D**

**What will happen to the group of heroes? Will they all make it? Will the bad guys not? Will I ever shut up, and what could Vaati possibly have under his sleeve? (Guess. It's something with hooves. XD)**

**Nike: Also, thanks so so so so so so so much to our favoriters and followers! :D**


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